Empathy, Sentimental Education, and Restorative Justice: Providing a Larger Participatory Role for Victims in the American Criminal Justice System

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2014
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Haverford College. Department of Philosophy
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Award
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eng
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Open Access
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Abstract
Research on crime victims and their experiences within the American criminal justice system suggests that victims can be unjustly harmed throughout the criminal justice process. I argue that this results from victims' lack of a participatory role in the criminal justice process. Restorative justice initiatives have emerged in response to this issue, but have failed to make significant improvements. In an effort to understand why these current restorative initiatives are insufficient, three approaches of restorative justice are considered in light of two different groups of victims-–victims of sexual and domestic violence, and bereaved victims. This consideration suggests that in order to respond to the unjust harm of victims, restorative values must be woven into the criminal justice process. I claim that in an effort to remain fair and just our criminal justice system has inadvertently treated victims as less than rational, and therefore less than human, by marginalizing them within the criminal justice process. A solution would begin with a conceptual shift regarding the value of sentiments in a legal context and the re-articulation of objectivity. Through sentimental education, empathy and restorative values can begin to be woven into the criminal justice system, allowing us to adequately address the needs of victims and their larger participatory role within the criminal justice process.
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