In a world where crime and injustice persist, societies have sought solutions beyond punitive measures. Transformative justice offers an alternative approach that prioritizes healing, growth, and restoration. This type of restoration system breaks the old traditional ways suggesting an alternative solution to rising crime rates and helping out juveniles to turn their lives around; Many consider this new system to be able to make a more compassionate, equitable and harmless society.
Transformative justice aims to address the root causes of the crime or problem, and promotes accountability for one’s actions. In the past, traditional criminal justice systems often perpetuated cycles of violence and repetition of similar crimes. However, transformative justice seeks to break these cycles by addressing the needs of the criminals and pushes them to change and grow to better fit in society. Instead of simply punishing, this justice system poses a method of allowing the wrongdoers to express their initial thoughts and to delve into their psychology in order to find a solution to prevent them from repeating the same mistakes. This newly suggested justice system comes with three main principles: accountability/responsibility, healing, and addressing of root causes.
Transformative justice emphasizes holding individuals responsible for their actions. However, rather than using the traditional method of punishing criminals through fines or imprisonment, this system allows for growth, learning, and most importantly, change. It recognizes the importance of understanding the harm caused and allows for steps to restore and repair the damage. For instance, the victim and the perpetrator may come together to talk about the issue and build empathy and relationships.
Another principle that transformative justice prioritizes is healing and support. Central to this justice system is the recognition of the needs and rights of the victim. It emphasizes providing resources and help for the ones who have experienced harm to assuage the trauma they could have received. The ultimate goal of this principle is to allow the victims to fight through the experience and for them to be able to adjust to society and the wider community.
Finally, transformative justice acknowledges that harm does not occur in isolation but is often rooted in systemic injustices and inequalities. This system calls for an examination of these underlying causes and seeks to address them to prevent future harm and promote equity.
Y.Lee