The Little Book of Restorative Justice for Sexual Abuse: Hope through Trauma

by Judah Oudshoorn, Lorraine Stutzman Amstutz, Michelle Jackett

Here is a thoughtful and thought-provoking look at the impact of sexual abuse demonstrating how restorative justice can create hope through trauma.

Restorative justice is gaining acceptance for addressing harm and crime. Interventions have been developed for a wide range of wrongdoing. This book considers the use of restorative justice in response to sexual abuse. Rather than a blueprint or detailing a specific set of programs, it is more about mapping possibilities. It allows people to carefully consider its use in responding to violent crimes such as sexual abuse.

Criminal justice approaches tend to sideline and re-traumatize victims, and punish offenders to the detriment of accountability. Alternatively, restorative justice centers on healing for victims, while holding offenders meaningfully accountable. Criminal justice responses tend to individualize the problem, and catch marginalized communities, such as ethnic minorities, within its net. Restorative justice recognizes that sexual abuse is a form of gender-based violence. The table of contents

Community-based practices are needed, sometimes in conjunction with, and sometimes to counteract, traditional criminal justice responses.

Genres: Nonfiction, Psychology, Social Justice

112 pages, Paperback

First published October 6, 2015

Reviews

[Jae · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really great resource that does an eloquent job of breaking down all the little parts and thoughts around restorative justice specific to sexual violence. The case studies were incredibly helpful in illustrating the practice, not just the theory, behind restorative justice. So glad I read this; I feel inspired!

The only cringe was that it uses the word "transgendered" instead of "transgender"

[Margaux Lopez · Rating 4 out of 5]

The main takeaway from this book for me is that restorative justice really means restoring balance to a community after a traumatic event like sexual assault.

No two experiences are a like - victims and offenders can come from their own traumatic stories and experiences. Sometimes the abuse is recurring and causes a long bout of continuous harm, sometimes it is a single regrettable act. The nuance of every situation requires careful consideration.

It is unfortunate that this is a framework jammed into a system that is diametrically opposed to it. Under capitalism the punitive criminal "justice" system focuses all its attention and energy on punishment for offenders and almost none on the healing of victims. There is a narrative of shame that can be directed at either person.

For victims this narrative is: "You are broken and dirty, you are causing trouble for everyone"

For offenders the narrative is: "You are not worthy of being a person, you deserve to be exposed to everyone for the monster you are."

The reality is that it is possible for healing to occur, and for extra-legal systems to be built within organizations that allow for a full expression of community healing. Under a socialist system restorative justice would be able to meaningfully exist inside of a system rather than take its expression against it. Anyone who claims egalitarianism should read this book and understand how difficult and delicate of a process it is to truly build a society based on seeing everyone as whole people, no matter what has happened to them, or what they have done.

[theperksofbeingmarissa ;) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great short read on restorative justice! I think this is perfect for beginners! I definitely loved the acknowledgment to indigenous communities who have been practicing restorative justice before us. I will definitely look more into the Ojibwe.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this in a Goodreads giveaway.
Very interesting approach on how to respond to sexual violence. It makes a lot of sense and here's to hoping something like this will be considered in society because what is the norm now is not working that well.

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really value this series of books and I'm glad this one came out. The topic is understandably controversial but it is my opinion that restorative justice absolutely has a role in combatting sex violence in our culture. The book itself doesn't dive too deep but provides a good starting point and references to the emerging research in this field. I appreciate that the examples used are diverse and that they do discuss the college setting.

[Lynn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Too much of this book I just did not agree with at all and the more I read of it, the more I disliked it. On the same note, I could go on and on about all the things that I disagreed with, but I'll just cut to the chase and say, in my opinion, it was as crappy as Jynx's litter box today...which was pretty bad. Lol.
I received this book as a Goodreads first reads giveaway, in exchange for my honest review.

[Alistair P D · Rating 5 out of 5]

My views here are similar to what I feel about the overarching volume, The little book of restorative justice: it's clear, concise and well-argued, but, although the authors are clearly committed to and passionate about RJ, they provide volumes that are maturely-considered and offer warnings about and safeguards against a cavalier, "feelgood" misuse of a framework that attempts to include the victims of crime and their needs to the maximum extent possible. This volume in an extensive series looks at, obviously, sexual assault and how RJ might be used fruitfully over against a judicial system that is adversarial and punitive, and ignores victims and their experience of trauma. The authors handle a fraught subject with considerable sensitivity, dexterity and empathy, producing a truly excellent work that I wish more politicised purveyors of what has (wrongly) been termed restorative justice had read and absorbed before embarking on ill-conceived excursions into the realm of sexual assault and abuse.

[Cali Castellanos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent resource to understand the breadth of RJ options for sexual violence survivors, perpetrators, & communities. Easy and quick to read & extremely informative. Includes case studies, research on causes & impacts of sexual abuse, summaries of past RJ empirical studies, best practices, & principles. I really appreciated the clear subheadings, bullet points & numbered lists, graphic organizers, & plenty of white space. As a book about RJ, it reflects the ideological limitations of RJ as opposed to TJ in regards to liberatory potential (tolerance for collusion with conventional criminal legal systems in some cases & not addressing structural violence in all RJ approaches).

[June Amelia Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

a nice introduction/outline to how restorative justice works in practice.

[selin · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my fav professors wrote this book, read it for his class