How Do We Seek Justice After Hurt or Offence or Terror? Retributive and Restorative Responses

The psychology of retributive justice studies people s desire to punish those who violate rules or laws, in order to re-establish justice. While this appears to be a basic human motivation, punishment may not be sufficient or necessary to restore justice. Restorative justice has recently emerged in law and criminology as an alternative framework that focuses on healing the relationship between affected parties (offender, victim, community) through apology, forgiveness and consensus. For psychology, this raises the important question of when people are motivated to seek justice through consensus rather than punishment, with important implications for crime control, reconciliation and peace.