Beliefs Matter: Concrete theoretical discourse for clarity of restorative justice practice

Authors

  • Dorothy Vaandering Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.58725/rivjr.v3i2.140

Keywords:

restorative justice, beliefs, worth and interconnectedness, conscientization, praxis

Abstract

In Western neo-liberal contexts, discussions regarding beliefs are ignored, dismissed, or avoided as they are deemed irrelevant without empirical evidence. People are encouraged to treat beliefs as purely a private matter.  Yet, denying that everyone holds beliefs does not mean that beliefs cease to exist. Conscious or unconscious, what individuals or societies believe fundamentally shapes how people engage with one another. In this article, I explain how beliefs matter in (a) defining restorative justice, (b) implementing restorative justice, and (c) sustaining restorative justice. I make the case for boldly declaring that the belief that all people and their environments are worthy and interconnected must reside at the core of restorative justice if it is to have the transformative effect advocates wish.

Author Biography

Dorothy Vaandering, Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador

M.Ed.; PhD: University of Western Ontario, Professor Memorial University of Newfoundland

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Published

2025-08-22

Issue

Vol. 3 No. 2 (2025): Revista Internacional de Vitimologia e Justiça Restaurativa

Section

Artigos

License

Copyright (c) 2025 International Journal of Victimology and Restorative Justice

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