Decolonising Restorative Justice

Decolonising Restorative Justice
Author: Leanne Alexis Levers
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 153
Release: 2023-09-01
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1000936279

This book critically examines the colonial dimensions of restorative justice through the lens of justice policy reform in Jamaica. Restorative justice is not new. Practices of restitution can be found throughout history, predominantly in non-Western traditions and religions. One of the key principles of restorative practices is contextualisation. That is, restorative practices are developed and embedded within the political, economic, and cultural context of the communities in which they are practised. Many of the countries that have gone on to develop restorative justice as part of their formal justice system have developed their policy on the model of their indigenous communities – for example, in Canada and in New Zealand. However, with the globalisation of restorative practices within the past decade, many countries have sought to ‘colonise’ restorative justice, by developing a standardised, best-practice approach. Instead of a practice that is developed and formed by its community, colonised restorative justice dictates that one size fits all. Examined through the lens of the development and implementation of restorative justice policies in Jamaica, this book argues that this Westernised approach diminishes the effectiveness of restorative justice in its capacity: to address the victim’s needs; to hold the offender accountable in a way that reintegrates them into society; and to empower the community by involving them in the provision of justice to victims. Restorative justice, then, must be decolonised –and local, indigenous practices acknowledged –if it is to achieve its aims. This book will be of interest to a range of scholars with interests in decolonisation, as well as alternative dispute resolution, especially those in sociolegal studies, criminology, human rights, social policy, political science, and Caribbean studies.

Decolonizing Law

Decolonizing Law
Author: Sujith Xavier
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 271
Release: 2021-05-24
Genre: Law
ISBN: 100039655X

This book brings together Indigenous, Third World and Settler perspectives on the theory and practice of decolonizing law. Colonialism, imperialism, and settler colonialism continue to affect the lives of racialized communities and Indigenous Peoples around the world. Law, in its many iterations, has played an active role in the dispossession and disenfranchisement of colonized peoples. Law and its various institutions are the means by which colonial, imperial, and settler colonial programs and policies continue to be reinforced and sustained. There are, however, recent and historical examples in which law has played a significant role in dismantling colonial and imperial structures set up during the process of colonization. This book combines usually distinct Indigenous, Third World and Settler perspectives in order to take up the effort of decolonizing law: both in practice and in the concern to distance and to liberate the foundational theories of legal knowledge and academic engagement from the manifestations of colonialism, imperialism and settler colonialism. Including work by scholars from the Global South and North, this book will be of interest to academics, students and others interested in the legacy of colonial and settler law, and its overcoming.

Decolonising Criminology

Decolonising Criminology
Author: Harry Blagg
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 413
Release: 2019-11-23
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1137532475

This book undertakes an exploratory exercise in decolonizing criminology through engaging postcolonial and postdisciplinary perspectives and methodologies. Through its historical and political analysis and place-based case studies, it challenges criminological inquiry by installing colonial structures of power at the centre of the contemporary criminological debate. This work unseats the Western nation-state as the singular point of departure for comparative criminological and socio-legal research. Decolonising Criminology argues that postcolonial and postdisciplinary critique can open up new pathways for criminological investigation. It builds on recent debates in criminology from outside of the Anglosphere. The authors deploy a number of heuristic devices, perspectives and theories generally ignored by criminologists of the Global North and engage perspectives concerned with articulating new decolonised epistemologies of the Global South. This book disputes the view that colonisation is a thing of the past and provides lessons for the Global North.

Neo-Colonial Injustice and the Mass Imprisonment of Indigenous Women

Neo-Colonial Injustice and the Mass Imprisonment of Indigenous Women
Author: Lily George
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 290
Release: 2020-09-26
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 3030445674

This book closes a gap in decolonizing intersectional and comparative research by addressing issues around the mass incarceration of Indigenous women in the US, Australia, Canada, and Aotearoa New Zealand. This edited collection seeks to add to the criminological discourse by increasing public awareness of the social problem of disproportionate incarceration rates. It illuminates how settler-colonial societies continue to deny many Indigenous peoples the life relatively free from state interference which most citizens enjoy. The authors explore how White-settler supremacy is exercised and preserved through neo-colonial institutions, policies and laws leading to failures in social and criminal justice reform and the impact of women’s incarceration on their children, partners, families, and communities. It also explores the tools of activism and resistance that Indigenous peoples use to resist neo-colonial marginalisation tactics to decolonise their lives and communities. With most contributors embedded in their indigenous communities, this collection is written from academic as well as community and experiential perspectives. It will be a comprehensive resource for academics and students of criminology, sociology, Indigenous studies, women and gender studies and related academic disciplines, as well as non-academic audiences: offering new knowledge and insider insights both nationally and internationally.

Crime, Aboriginality and the Decolonisation of Justice

Crime, Aboriginality and the Decolonisation of Justice
Author: Harry Blagg
Publisher:
Total Pages: 212
Release: 2016
Genre: Aboriginal Australians
ISBN: 9781760020576

Crime, Aboriginality and the Decolonisation of Justice explores contemporary strategies which might reduce the extraordinary levels of imprisonment and victimisation suffered by Aboriginal people in Australia. These are problems that continue to rise despite numerous inquiries and reports. Harry Blagg disputes the relevance of the western, urban, criminological paradigm to the Aboriginal domain, and questions the application of both contemporary innovations such as restorative justice and mainstream models of policing. He also refutes allegations that Aboriginal customary laws condone violence against women and children, pointing to the wealth of research to the contrary, and suggests these laws contain considerable potential for renewal and healing. This book maintains that unresolved questions of colonisation, decolonisation and sovereignty lie at the heart of debates about criminal justice in post-colonial Australia. It explores the potential for 'hybrid' initiatives in the complex 'liminal' space between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal domains, for example, Aboriginal community/night patrols, community justice groups, healing centres and Aboriginal courts. This new edition covers emerging issues such as Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) and reports on the consequences of the Commonwealth Government's contentious 'intervention' in remote Northern Territory communities in 2007.

Decolonizing Wealth

Decolonizing Wealth
Author: Edgar Villanueva
Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
Total Pages: 215
Release: 2018-10-16
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1523097914

Decolonizing Wealth is a provocative analysis of the dysfunctional colonial dynamics at play in philanthropy and finance. Award-winning philanthropy executive Edgar Villanueva draws from the traditions from the Native way to prescribe the medicine for restoring balance and healing our divides. Though it seems counterintuitive, the philanthropic industry has evolved to mirror colonial structures and reproduces hierarchy, ultimately doing more harm than good. After 14 years in philanthropy, Edgar Villanueva has seen past the field's glamorous, altruistic façade, and into its shadows: the old boy networks, the savior complexes, and the internalized oppression among the “house slaves,” and those select few people of color who gain access. All these funders reflect and perpetuate the same underlying dynamics that divide Us from Them and the haves from have-nots. In equal measure, he denounces the reproduction of systems of oppression while also advocating for an orientation towards justice to open the floodgates for a rising tide that lifts all boats. In the third and final section, Villanueva offers radical provocations to funders and outlines his Seven Steps for Healing. With great compassion—because the Native way is to bring the oppressor into the circle of healing—Villanueva is able to both diagnose the fatal flaws in philanthropy and provide thoughtful solutions to these systemic imbalances. Decolonizing Wealth is a timely and critical book that preaches for mutually assured liberation in which we are all inter-connected.

Exploring Criminal Justice: The Essentials

Exploring Criminal Justice: The Essentials
Author: Robert M. Regoli
Publisher: Jones & Bartlett Publishers
Total Pages: 451
Release: 2009-09-29
Genre: True Crime
ISBN: 1449664857

Exploring Criminal Justice: The Essentials provides an extensive overview of the American criminal justice system in a concise and accessible format. This engaging text examines the people and processes that make up the system and how they interact. It also covers the historic context and modern features of the criminal justice system and encourages students to think about how current events in crime affect their everyday lives. Important Notice: The digital edition of this book is missing some of the images or content found in the physical edition.

Decolonising Justice for Aboriginal youth with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders

Decolonising Justice for Aboriginal youth with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
Author: Harry Blagg
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 188
Release: 2020-12-29
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1000300676

This book reflects multidisciplinary and cross-jurisdictional analysis of issues surrounding Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) and the criminal justice system, and the impact on Aboriginal children, young people, and their families. This book provides the first comprehensive and multidisciplinary account of FASD and its implications for the criminal justice system – from prevalence and diagnosis to sentencing and culturally secure training for custodial officers. Situated within a ‘decolonising’ approach, the authors explore the potential for increased diversion into Aboriginal community-managed, on-country programmes, enabled through innovation at the point of first contact with the police, and non-adversarial, needs-focussed courts. Bringing together advanced thinking in criminology, Aboriginal justice issues, law, paediatrics, social work, and Indigenous mental health and well-being, the book is grounded in research undertaken in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. The authors argue for the radical recalibration of both theory and practice around diversion, intervention, and the role of courts to significantly lower rates of incarceration; that Aboriginal communities and families are best placed to construct the social and cultural scaffolding around vulnerable youth that could prevent damaging contact with the mainstream justice system; and that early diagnosis and assessment of FASD may make a crucial difference to the life chances of Aboriginal youth and their families. Exploring how, far from providing solutions to FASD, the mainstream criminal justice system increases the likelihood of adverse outcomes for children with FASD and their families, this innovative book will be of great value to researchers and students worldwide interested in criminal and social justice, criminology, youth justice, social work, and education.

Decolonizing Social Work

Decolonizing Social Work
Author: Mel Gray
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 381
Release: 2016-05-13
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1317153731

Riding on the success of Indigenous Social Work Around the World, this book provides case studies to further scholarship on decolonization, a major analytical and activist paradigm among many of the world’s Indigenous Peoples, including educators, tribal leaders, activists, scholars, politicians, and citizens at the grassroots level. Decolonization seeks to weaken the effects of colonialism and create opportunities to promote traditional practices in contemporary settings. Establishing language and cultural programs; honouring land claims, teaching Indigenous history, science, and ways of knowing; self-esteem programs, celebrating ceremonies, restoring traditional parenting approaches, tribal rites of passage, traditional foods, and helping and healing using tribal approaches are central to decolonization. These insights are brought to the arena of international social work still dominated by western-based approaches. Decolonization draws attention to the effects of globalization and the universalization of education, methods of practice, and international ’development’ that fail to embrace and recognize local knowledges and methods. In this volume, Indigenous and non-Indigenous social work scholars examine local cultures, beliefs, values, and practices as central to decolonization. Supported by a growing interest in spirituality and ecological awareness in international social work, they interrogate trends, issues, and debates in Indigenous social work theory, practice methods, and education models including a section on Indigenous research approaches. The diversity of perspectives, decolonizing methodologies, and the shared struggle to provide effective professional social work interventions is reflected in the international nature of the subject matter and in the mix of contributors who write from their contexts in different countries and cultures, including Australia, Canada, Cuba, Japan, Jordan, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, and the USA.