How would a conservative reply to a call for more restorative justice? How would a restorative justice advocate respond to a conservative call for...

A
conservative would respond that prison terms and punishments such as the death penalty should
serve as a deterrent to committing crimes. If one knows that one will either forfeit one's life
or spend a lengthy time behind bars, one would be less likely to commit the crime. Conservatives
could also argue that removing the person from society for a long period of time or indefinitely
makes it less likely that the person will commit a further offense against the public.
Conservatives argue that murderers and sexual predators are hard to rehabilitate and should be
isolated from the rest of society in order to protect society.

Restorative
justice calls for more restoration instead of retribution. Restorative justice focuses on
changing behaviors that led to the conviction. Restorative justice claims that long-term
incarceration harms both the victim and the offender as well as the families attached to these
two groups.

For non-violent offenders, restorative justice attempts to get
these people involved through community service in order to change behaviors and thought
processes. Restorative justice advocates can point out that people reintegrated into society are
less likely to re-offend. This can lead to less crime and a smaller prison population, thus
ultimately saving the taxpayer money.

Restorative justice advocates can also
use prison population and recidivism rates to claim that the conservative approach does not work
and that there is a need to provide a means for the incarcerated to reenter
society.

href="http://restorativejustice.org/restorative-justice/about-restorative-justice/tutorial-intro-to-restorative-justice/lesson-5-implementation-issues/building-support/">http://restorativejustice.org/restorative-justice/about-r...