Governing Paradoxes Of Restorative Justice

Restorative justice is the policy of eschewing traditional punishments in favour of group counselling involving both victims and perpetrators. Until now there has been no critical analysis of governmental rationales that legitimise restorative practices over traditional approaches but Governing Practices of Restorative Justice aims to fill this gap and to address the mentalities of governance most prominent in restorative justice. The author provides comprehensible commentary on the central images of this discursive arena in a style accessible to participants and observers of restorative justice alike.

George Pavlich is Professor of Sociology at the University of Alberta, Canada.