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Restoring Rape Survivors
Author(s) -
KOSS MARY P.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1196/annals.1385.025
Subject(s) - restorative justice , economic justice , accountability , criminology , ethnic group , attrition , class action , mental health , action (physics) , public relations , political science , sociology , psychology , social psychology , law , medicine , psychotherapist , state (computer science) , physics , dentistry , algorithm , quantum mechanics , computer science
Rape results in mental and physical health, social, and legal consequences. For the latter, restorative justice‐based programs might augment community response, but they generate controversy among advocates and policy makers. This article identifies survivors' needs and existing community responses to them. Survivors feel their legal needs are most poorly met due to justice system problems that can be summarized as attrition, retraumatization, and disparate treatment across gender, class, and ethnic lines. Empirical data support each problem and the conclusion that present justice options are inadequate. The article concludes by identifying common ground in advocacy and restorative justice goals and calls for a holistic approach to the needs of rape survivors that includes advocating for expanded justice alternatives. A call to action is issued to implement restorative alternatives to expand survivor choice and offender accountability. Conventional and restorative justice are often viewed as mutually exclusive whereas the author argues they are complementary.