Thoughts on the papers for our first issue of International Journal of Conflict and Reconciliation

Tola Pearce and I focused on Restorative Justice [RJ] for this first issue of International Journal of Conflict and Reconciliation in part because the Restorative Justice in Adult Criminal Courts Symposium was held at the University of Missouri, Columbia on November 13, 2009. Three thought-provoking papers from that symposium were reviewed and accepted for this first issue.

As social scientists, we are encouraged by what we see as a movement by RJ to harness the power of grass roots citizen participation to build a sense of community out of anti- social behavior. Offenders, social control agents, victims, and regular citizens are encouraged by RJ to work together to improve the quality of life of their neighborhoods and towns. Theoretically, everyone involved has a better than 50/50 chance of receiving positive responses and seeing other signs of fruitful labor. This should lead to "buy-in" to the ethos of building stronger communities.

Also, community is fundamentally about social interrelationships. A core principle of RJ, in the words of Lerman, "is that crime is an offense against relationships. Change the word 'crime' to 'wrongdoing' or 'class disruption' and the restorative Justice framework fits into a school setting. (For that matter, it fits into any setting in which people gather in a group)." In this regard, RJ taps into a venerable tradition of social scientific theory and research. In contrast, traditional retributive justice emphasizes not doing something bad by isolating and threatening the offender. In fact, evidence indicates that retribution increases the potential for wrongdoing as Lerman points out in his example of high schools suspending students for committing violent acts.

Hass and Corno's paper is a descriptive study of an RJ program in Greene County in the Missouri Ozarks. Their findings illustrate citizen participation's role in building social integration and a sense of responsibility for the community, calling RJ "peace making criminology."

Katz and Bonham present an empirical study of the key non-offender stakeholders' attitudes toward RJ. The authors found gaps in the belief about how effective RJ is in dealing with hard-core offenders and in representing the training and mission of people like probation officers, police, etc.

Wikle's methodological paper is a compelling hierarchical statistical model that will help empirical researchers who study facets of conflict and reconciliation account for the large uncertainties in data, parameters, or boundaries. Ultimately, this will help us better understand the process of human relationships themselves.

The book reviews are by a geologist, a classics scholar, and social scientist. In spreading the reviews over different professional domains and including books a degree or two removed from traditional notions of conflict, we hope to capture that elusive element of creative insight into variables and contexts that might open new doors to studying and explaining conflict and reconciliation. We hope that this intention is actualized.

Richard M. Hessler