International Journal on Criminology Volume 1, Number 1, Fall 2013 | Page 21

International Journal on Criminology
search for consensual, forward-looking solutions intended to repair all harm. Here, both
results and the process are essential, as the various measures available indicate.
Such a shift is beneficial to all stakeholders, due to the complementarity between the
judge’s consideration of the crime and of its perpetrator, and the consideration of the
repercussions of a serious crime on social ties by the facilitators of restorative justice
(professional or volunteer workers with appropriate training: mediators, negotiators,
facilitators). All stakeholders—offenders, victims, and their families alike—have rights
consistent with human rights and the fundamental principles of criminal law, which are
applicable first and foremost from an ethical viewpoint. Recognition is a fundamental
ethical position. According to Axel Honneth, relationships of social recognition are
structured around three characteristics associated with love (a condition of selfconfidence),
rights (a condition of self-respect), and social solidarity (a condition of selfesteem).
19 Recognition is therefore “based on the experience of intersubjectivity [which
implies] that the relationship is considered more important than the individual”. 20 It is
through the eyes of others that humanity is fulfilled, and that the humanity of the victimas-subject
and the offender-as-subject is founded. Or, as Gaston Bachelard puts it, “The I
awakens by the grace of the Thou”. 21 Consequently, the social relationship harmed by the
crime can be restored when reciprocal recognition gives the individuals concerned the
possibility to be reborn together.
Along with recognition, another vital component of the restorative process is the
support and guidance given to the interested parties. Providing support means
accompanying the person in the direction he or she is going, at his or her own speed. It
also means empathetically sharing the suffering of the victim and, if need be, of the
offender. This right to support implies that both be heard by professionals well versed in
listening and interviewing techniques, at a pace that limits physical and psychological
fatigue. The authenticity of their statements must be accepted, in accordance with the
presumption of innocence and the presumption of victimity. They must also be
understood, through the use of an interpreter where necessary.
Restoration must be comprehensive, complete, and effective, on both sides of the
crime. To make amends is to take care of the other person as a victimized individual, with
full respect for the complex nature of the suffering he or she has undergone. The
reintegration of the victim or of his or her family into society is an essential duty. Having
access to and support from skilled professionals is a fundamental right. It is only by
respecting all of these conditions that each aspect of the victim's rights, and of the
offender's rights, will be fulfilled at restoration.
It also appears an ethical necessity to punish the offender. When serious harm has
been done to an essential social value and to the Common Good, naming the act, its
perpetrator, and the victim is vital. Provided, that is, that the aforementioned rights to
recognition, support, and reparation are respected. This includes for any victimization
previously suffered by the offender, which cannot be dissociated from the crime for
which he or she is being punished, with a view to his or her future social reintegration—
the "official" idea behind the modern criminal justice system.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
19 A. Honneth, The Struggle for Recognition: The Moral Grammar of Social Conflicts (Polity Press,
1996) [La lutte pour la reconnaissance, Le Cerf, 1992/2010, 116etseq].
20 H. Guéguen, G. Malochet, Les théories de la reconnaissance, La Découverte, Coll. Repères,
2012, 53-54.
21 Préface, In M. Buber, Je et tu (1935), Aubier Montaigne, Coll. Bibliothèque philosophique,
1992, 8-9, [translated from French, “Le moi s’éveille par la grâce du toi”].
20 !