Towards a Restorative Society a problem-solving response to harm Martin Wright Towards a Restorative Society: a problem-solving response to harm Martin Wright 2 About the author: Martin Wright has been librarian at the Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge; director of the Howard League for Penal Reform; and policy officer for Victim Support. He is a senior research fellow at the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, De Montfort University, Leicester. He was a founder member of the European Forum Restorative Justice and until 2006 a member of the board, and is currently a board member of the Restorative Justice Consortium, but writes in an individual capacity. He is a volunteer mediator in Lambeth, south London. Publications include Making good: prisons, punishment and beyond (1982, reprinted 2008), Justice for victims and offenders: a restorative response to crime (2 nd ed. 1996), and Restoring respect for justice (1999, 2 nd ed. 2008). He has an honorary diploma from the Polish Centre for Mediation, and is an Honorary Fellow of the Institute for Conflict Resolution, Bulgaria, 2005.
[email protected] This pamphlet is published by Make Justice Work as a contribution to debate. The views expressed are not necessarily those of MJW. 3 TOWARDS A RESTORATIVE SOCIETY A problem-solving response to harm Martin Wright ake a room full of people, describe a crime, give some information about the offender, and ask them what sentence they would impose. You can be T sure that their answers will vary widely. Even among judges or magistrates there would be considerable differences. If you go to different parts of the country there will be further discrepancies, and still more if you go to another country.