Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution
Abstract
This essay surveys the question of victim need from a different vantage point. It takes as its starting point the voices of actual victims as recorded by researchers in the field. It reports on three studies and the linkage they uncover between victim distress and attitudes toward justice and reconciliation. What they reveal belies a simple notion of victim need and suggests that restorativists should move warily as they seek to reshape the criminal justice system into more harmony-producing forms. Victim-offender encounters, truth-telling, and moves toward apology and reconciliation are appealing in the abstract; but data suggests that victims whose distress levels remain high and who continue to suffer the psychological fallout of intense trauma may be unable to benefit from such interactions. Victims of serious crime and violation may need more tangible help - psychological counseling and assistance with the material basics of life - before they can be expected to dispense the spiritual balm and experience the psychological release that restorative theorists envision.
Disciplines
Comparative and Foreign Law | Dispute Resolution and Arbitration | Law
Recommended Citation
Ellen Waldman,
Restorative Justice and the Pre-Conditions for Grace: Taking Victim's Needs Seriously,
9
Cardozo J. Conflict Resol.
91
(2007).
Available at:
https://larc.cardozo.yu.edu/cjcr/vol9/iss1/4