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Restorative Justice

&Race

…A Theoretical Analysis

Jacqueline Roebuck Sakho, Duquesne University

Thursday, March 15, 2012

2012 ACJS Conference

March 15, 2012

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RJ & Race

Theories to frame the discussion

• Critical Legal Theory

• Conard’s “Macrojustice” (Conard 1971)

• Critical Dialogic Approach (Nagda & Gurin, 2007)

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Why RJ?

“It is no longer clear that law can produce a more just society” (Merry 1995 p 12)

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Restorative Justice

Frames

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RJ Cycle

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RJ Spectrum

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Restorative Justice & Race

Theoretical Frameworks

March 15, 2012

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Restorative Justice

As Critical Legal Theory

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Restorative Justice & CLT

• RJ troubles and disrupts accepted norms and standards in legal theory and practice

• RJ interrogates dimensions of power within both inter intra relationships

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Restorative Justice

Conard’s “Macrojustice”

Conard, 1971, p. 420)

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Why RJ?

“We conceptualize law as more plural not located entirely in the state. And we see the “effects” of law in far broader post-Foucauldian terms.” (Merry, 1995 p. 12)

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Conardian Formula

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Conardian Formula

Reflection• “Nonomics”

• Quantitative

• Aggregative

Action• Law in action vs. Law

in books

• Measuring the effectiveness of processes/procedures

• Beyond the impact of the system on one case but a number of cases

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RJ in Conardian terms…

“Microjustice”• The Law

• The State

• The individual

“Macrojustice”• The Law as “total

consequences” (p. 420)

• Systemic Social Conflict

• Community Impact

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Restorative Justice

A Critical Dialogic Approach

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Critical Dialogic Approach

• Three Components (Nagda & Gurin 2007, p. 36)• Critical analysis and understanding

of difference and dominance• Discursive engagement across

differences• Debate Discussion Dialogue (p.

37)

• Sustained and conjoint community building and conflict engagement

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Why RJ?

“…the hope for reform has moved to more bottom-up, small scale changes.” (Merry, 1995, p. 15)

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ReferencesConard, A. (1971) Macrojustice: A systematic approach to conflict resolution. Georgia Law Review, 5(3), 415

Merry, Sally Engle (1994)Resistance and the cultural power of law. Law & Society Review, 29 (1) 11

Nagda B.A., Gurin, P. (2007) Intergrouop dialogue: A critical-dialogic approach to learning about difference, inequality, and social justice. 111, 35.

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Restorative Justice & Race

March 15, 2012