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Defining Justice
Punish the guilty or heal the breach?
How we, as a society, respond to a breach in a relationship or a breach of peace and order is often called “justice.” However, the term “justice” is used to refer to two separate and distinct responses to the breach:
one seeks to punish the guilty, the other seeks to heal the breach.
The punitive model that seeks to punish the guilty is called "punitive 'justice' or reaction." This model dates back to the Law of Moses, the Code of Hammurabi, and other ancient teachings.
The model of justice that seeks to heal the breach is called "unitive justice." It is consistent with the "good news" taught by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, Buddha's admonition that we overcome anger by peacefulness and overcome evil by good, and the Golden Rule, a sound moral compass found in all major religious traditions.
We now have models of unitive justice, ready for implementation in our institutions.
"Look back upon our history. You will discover that the pursuit of justice
has been the source of every violent, hurtful and unkind thought,
word, and deed since the beginning of time."
(James P. Kimmel, Jr., Suing For Peace)
Punitive "Justice" or Reaction
The punitive reaction seeks to punish the guilty.
Its goals are:
- Vengeance
- Revenge
- Vindication
- Punishment
- Serving “our” interests, at the expense of “theirs”
- A win/lose outcome
The punitive reaction is kept in check by the requirement that the harm done to those who have inflicted harm be proportional—the old “eye for an eye” measurement. This subjective measure is easily shifted, depending on who is the decider and the interests being served.
Its dualistic morality is a seriously flawed moral compass that permits one to say, “My killing is good, but yours is bad, because you make me do it.” In this way, the “good” people kill the “evil” people, yet claim to be moral while doing the same thing. They think they are victims of those who they harm, thus see themselves relieved of responsibility for their intentional acts. When both sides follow the same flawed moral compass, the violence is endless, while all feel self righteous about the harm they cause.
Punishment is the means used to achieve compliance, without considering punishment’s collateral effects. Otherwise, what an ineffective and expensive way this is to maintain order would be seen. The rate of recidivism nationally in the punitive model is around 67% (approx. 2/3 return to jail or prison in 3 years). It is a no-value-added system. At most, it should be the exception, not the norm.
"We have created a world in which schoolchildren kill each other for justice,
adults engage in every form of malice in the name of justice,
terrorists indiscriminately massacre thousands of people under the delusions of justice, and nations go to war waving
the blood-red flag of justice."
(James P. Kimmel, Jr., Suing For Peace)
When we examine the course of events, it is not surprising that a mighty attempt has been made to reconcile these two forms of justice. After all, punitive "justice" had always been the occidental norm before the Common Era. When Jesus came to teach a new way, government institutions and cultural traditions had much invested in the ancient form of justice and could not be expected to relinquish its "benefits" with ease.
Unitive Justice
Unitive justice seeks to heal the breach.
Its goals are:
- Reconciliation
- Restoration
- Transformation
- Support for choosing anew
- Serving mutual interests, sharing
- A win/win outcome
Unitive justice aims to stop the harm that has occurred and to do no further harm. It furthers accountability by facilitating the offender’s recognition of wrongdoing, expression of remorse and making it right in a way that best heals the victim.
Morality is measured by who we are, not by how bad our enemies are, thus there is only one standard of morality—do unto others as you would have them do unto you. This “Golden Rule” measure is found in all major religious traditions.
Unitive justice finds within each breakdown a pearl to be harvested, the conflict being the portal to healing and transformation. Its goal is to heal, reconcile and unify, from which balance and peace naturally flow. While there are some offenders who must be locked up, they are the exception.
Justice should be the solution to discord, not the cause of more problems. For programs that are truly unitive, the rate of recidivism can be below 10%. This is the better way. We now have many unitive models that can be employed in our institutions.
Unitive Justice Models Ready to be Implemented
We now have unitive justice models in place that can become the norm, slowly moving the punitive structures aside. For example, Problem Solving Courts integrate treatment and social services with judicial case processing and monitoring to achieve a win/win outcome. This is especially beneficial in managing cases when there is recurring contact with the justice system due to underlying medical and social problems.
The growing restorative justice movement in the United States and around the world, a movement to redirect criminal justice from vengeance to restoration, reconciliation, healing and transformation, is another example.
Today, when policy makers believe their "realism" requires that they must still employ punitive "justice" - using vengeance and violence to stop vengeance and violence - we must at least demand they be honest about which form of justice they are employing. We must no longer let puntive "justice" be wrapped in the swaddling cloth of unitive justice.
These two models of justice are pieces of two larger systems, unity and duality (Realities of Unity and Duality) The process of evolving from one reality to another is a process that requires time, with many mistakes and lessons to be learned along the way. As yet, unitive justice is not widely practiced by governments or policy makers, but it can be. This is what the Unitive Justice Movement aims to achieve.
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