Justice

Beyond Intractability: A Free Knowledge Base on More Constructive Approaches to Destructive Conflict

Justice

	Principles of Justice and Fairness It's common sense that justice is central to any well-functioning society. However, the question of what justice is and how to achieve it are more difficult matters. This essay begins to explore the conundrum.
	Types of Justice Different spheres of society approach justice differently. This essay breaks justice down into four types: distributive, procedural, retributive, and restorative and explains the meaning of each.
	Restorative Justice Restorative justice is justice that is not designed to punish the wrong-doer, but rather to restore the victim and the relationship to the way they were before the offense. Thus, restorative justice requires an apology from the offender, restitution for the victim, and forgiveness of the offender by the victim.
	Retributive Justice Retributive justice promises punishment or "retribution" for wrongdoing.
	Procedural Justice Procedural justice describes approaches that define justice not by a fair outcome but by a fair process.
	Distributive Justice When people believe that their situation is not equal to that of other people like them, they feel a sense of injustice. Distributive justice is the attempt to create a fair and equal division of society's wealth and status.

We used to wonder where war lived, what it was that made it so vile. And now we realize that we know where it lives, that it is inside ourselves. -- Albert Camus

Featured Links
Organizations Making Noteworthy Contributions to Efforts to Promote More Constructive Conflict

American Sociological Association: Section on Peace, War, and Social Conflict

Other Resources from
Beyond Intractability

Peace-Building: A Field Guide
The authors of this edited volume describe how fieldworkers 'fit' in the overall peacebuilding process and provide details of the most effective practices.

Nobel Peace Prize Winners

Yitzhak Rabin
Former Prime Minister of Israel, and 1994 Nobel Peace Laureate

Beyond Intractability Version IV
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Project Acknowledgements

The Beyond Intractability Knowledge Base Project
Guy Burgess and Heidi Burgess, Co-Directors and Editors
c/o Conflict Information Consortium (Formerly Conflict Research Consortium), University of Colorado
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