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Proposal for Institutionalized Revenge in Society

Proposal for Institutionalized Revenge in Society

Restorative justice facilitators today are taught to cringe at the word “retributive”. We learn that retributive justice is the antithesis to restorative principles, and is a necessary evil at best. However, the logic behind this assumption is flawed, and hence not conducive to the optimum restoration that restorative justice ideally hopes to achieve. In this paper, I will endeavor to show that retribution, especially a specific sub-category of retribution: institutionalized revenge, are not antithetical to, but rather, compatible with current restorative justice principles and practices.

In order to present a sound argument for the compatibility of restorative justice and institutionalized revenge, we must first have a clear understanding of the term institutionalized revenge. I will begin the paper by discussing what is meant by retribution, revenge, and institutionalized revenge. Second, I will briefly clarify what are commonly held to be the principles and practices of restorative justice. Finally, I will describe in what ways institutionalized revenge can be compatible with, and facilitating of, restorative justice principles and practices.

Let’s begin with a discussion of what is meant by the terms retribution, revenge, and institutionalized revenge. In the arena of punishment, there are several motives on which punishment can be based. These include consequentialist motives such as rehabilitation or deterrence; however, the motive with which we are concerned is retribution. Retribution is a de-ontologically based motive, based in the idea that punishment should be imposed upon wrong doers, because receipt of punishment for wrong is their just desert.

The next key term that we must address is that of revenge. In Getting Even, Barton defines revenge as a sort of sub-species in the greater genus of retribution. More specifically, he defines revenge as personal retribution. Unlike the doling out of just deserts by an anonymous or detached party such as the court system, revenge is personal in that the enactor of revenge has a closer relationship or tie to the victim than she does to the recipient of the revenge.

We move on now to the concept of institutionalized revenge. Because our culture connotatively associates revenge with wild, unfettered barbarism, the idea of revenge within and institution may seem alien. However, if we are to accept Barton’s definition of revenge as nothing more than a personal giving of just deserts, the idea of revenge within an institutional framework becomes much more comprehensible.

Institutionalized revenge would simply be a...

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