A respected criminologist said his selection for an international award marks a shift away from the dominance of punitive, state-based thinking in criminology.
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Professor
John Braithwaite |
Professor John Braithwaite, of the Regulatory Institutions Network (RegNet), was awarded the first Stockholm Prize in Criminology on 16 June. Professor Braithwaite and Professor Friedrich Losel from the University of Cambridge received the prize in Stockholm.
Professor Braithwaite was recognised for his pioneering work in the field of restorative justice, which looks at ways in which victims and perpetrators reconcile in the aftermath of a crime or larger conflict. He said it was a pleasant surprise to be selected for the inaugural award, which he described as recognition of the work of a number of ANU researchers.
“We have a Centre for Restorative Justice here at RegNet, and much of the research we’ve done has been teamwork. So one feels a bit of embarrassment being singled out,” he said.
“It’s also nice to get recognition for the field of restorative justice. Criminology has tended to place so much emphasis on the punishment of criminals by the state.
“Restorative justice comes out of a social movement. It is about NGO policy more than public policy. It’s a big shift. The criminal justice system continues to be overwhelmingly punitive. Nevertheless, people have been surprised at the way restorative justice has got a foothold nationally and internationally.”
Professor Braithwaite has recently returned from fieldwork in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands studying the implications for restorative justice and responsive governance in post-conflict societies. This work will form part of a 20-year, 40-country collaborative project with Professor Hilary Charlesworth.
He said it was especially valuable to visit the Solomons in the immediate aftermath of the riots earlier this year, and announced plans to visit Timor Leste soon.
“We’re interested in the strategists. We interview the warlords, as it were, to find out what their war-making strategies are, and how that is flipped into peace-making strategies. Also, we investigate what the peacemakers do to accomplish stability, or, in some cases, make things worse.
“We’re trying to understand empirically what happens – what has productive effects and what has counterproductive effects.”
Professor Braithwaite said the traditional practice of peacemaking between warring factions in PNG was one interesting aspect of his research. He said reconciling parties often engage in elaborate ceremonies, sometimes exchanging shell money, pigs, and returning victims’ bones.
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