Thinking About Justice

1
Thinking About Justice

• How do conceptions of justice vary
  cross-culturally and historically? How do culture
  and politics shape approaches to justice? What
  kinds of cultural and political consequences do
  efforts to obtain justice have?

2
Justice is a Cultural and Political Phenomenon

• Approaches to justice are shaped by cultural
  values and norms, religious beliefs, politics,
  economic systems, etc.
• Example Balinese response to terrorist attack
• Differences between Balinese and U.S. response?

3
Today Conceptions of Justiceand Rationales for
Punishment

• Justice in the United States
• Positive vs. negative rights
• Four main rationales for punishment
• Decline of rehabilitation
• Alternative Approaches to Justice
• Restorative justice

4
Negative vs. Positive Rights

• U.S. emphasis is on negative rights
• Less emphasis on positive rights
• U.S. criminal justice institutions almost
  entirely concerned with violations of negative
  rights.
• Exceptions?

5
Rationales for Punishment in the United States

• First Rationale Retribution
• Definition
• Assumptions
• Efficacy

6
2nd Rationale DeterrenceTwo types

• General deterrence
• Target
• Assumptions
• Efficacy
• Specific deterrence
• Target
• Assumptions
• Efficacy

7
3rd Rationale Incapacitation

• Definition
• Assumptions
• Efficacy

8
4th rationaleRehabilitation

• Was the primary rationale for about 100 years
• Different versions, theories about how to
  correct
• Criticized by both right and left in 1970s
  currently out of fashion
• Corrections vs. incarceration
• Assumptions?
• Efficacy
• 1970s- Nothing Works
• More recent studies

9
Punishment in the U.S. Today

• Legitimated almost exclusively in terms of
  retribution, deterrence, and incapacitation.
• Rehabilitation has largely disappeared, but some
  recent exceptions
• Mental health courts, drug courts, etc. --
  Therapeutic justice-get treated or else!
• Contradiction probation and parole violations as
  a cause of prison expansion!

10
Alternatives

• Harm reduction (for victimless crimes)
• Community Justice
• Restorative Justice

11
Restorative Justice

• Goals
• Assumptions
• Efficacy

12
Restorative JusticeMajor Challenges

• How to implement in large, urban societies?
• Most experiments have involved youth
• Dispute resolution in circles/conferences
  involving people most trusted by offender and the
  victim
• Circles continue on for offender over time
• Challenge how to generalize?
• To adults
• To more serious offenders

13
Next Time Restorative Justice in South Africa

• Questions to consider next time
• What were the Commissions goals?
• What were its assumptions?
• How do these differ from the contemporary U.S.
  approach to justice?
• How did its implementation differ from that of
  traditional forms of and recent experiments with
  restorative justice?