Reading: Amends
Numbers 5:5-7
The Lord said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites: ‘When a man or woman wrongs another in any way and so is unfaithful to the Lord, that person is guilty and must confess the sin he has committed. He must make full restitution for his wrong, add one fifth to it and give it all to the person he has wronged.’ ”
Matthew 5:23-24
Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.
Luke 19:8
But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.
See also Leviticus 6:1-7
Reflection on amends
As we have reinforced throughout this study, restorative justice theory tells us that crime results in harm and loss to people and relationships. For any of us who have suffered crime directly, or experienced it through a friend or family member, we know that crime causes harm and loss of various kinds – material, emotional, relational, and spiritual. Therefore, our own experience reinforces the need for a satisfactory response to crime that aims to repair the harm and loss to the extent possible.
Doing something to make right what is wrong is one of the most significant and positive things that can be done to repair crime’s damage. Hence, making amends is one of the key values in restorative practices. Old Testament law and New Testament ethics – as captured in passages from Leviticus, Numbers, Matthew, and Luke, to identify but a few – make clear that a person who causes harm and loss has a responsibility to the victim and to God to seek to make amends.
In what ways, then, can an offender make amends for wrongdoing or crime?
One way is to offer an apology. The apology can be written or spoken directly to the victim. An authentic apology involves an acknowledgement of responsibility by the offender for his or her action and the harm caused by it. It also involves a sense of regret, remorse, or shame for having caused pain or loss to another.
Another way to make amends is for an offender to undertake a fundamental change in behaviour. For example, an offender may decide to stop associating with previous friends or colleagues who contributed to an environment of criminality or wrongdoing. Or, an offender may agree to enter a therapeutic program to alter problem behaviour.
Still another way for an offender to make amends is to pay restitution for loss incurred by the victim. Restitution can be accomplished in a variety of ways such as through return or replacement of material goods and property, through monetary payment, or through performance of services to the victim or community.
An offender can go still further. He or she can go beyond apology, changed behaviour or restitution to something we might call generosity. In doing this the offender shows a willingness to do more than merely “balance the books” with the victim or community after the “imbalance” resulting from crime. Displaying generosity, the offender does more to make up for the harm or loss inflicted than a strict proportionate sense of amends would require.
This topic is where a restorative justice approach clearly differs from criminal justice, justice in the general public and in most criminal justice systems. A restorative approach to wrongdoing, genuinely centred in the shalom or well-being of people and relationships, goes beyond merely getting back to “zero” or “neutral” from a situation of deficit in a person’s life or a relationship. A restorative approach seeks to repair harm in order to foster strong relationships among the people harmed by crime.
Modifié le: mardi 14 août 2018, 11:18