Punishment culture encourages the view that an individual deserves harm — that the individual person is a “bad” person. Punishment marks someone as not worthy of belonging.
I noticed an increase in discussion about whether restorative justice could be an appropriate response to gender-based violence, including sexual assault and intimate partner violence.
“Restorative justice,” the social worker said, “allows those who commit crimes to meet with the victims to talk about what happened and how to repair the harm.”