Explanation
Peacemaking criminology challenges traditional punitive models and instead promotes reconciliation, empathy, and healing. Rooted in critical theory, spiritual traditions, and conflict resolution, this perspective views crime as a symptom of broader social injustice, inequality, and alienation.
Rather than focusing solely on offenders or victims, peacemaking criminology aims to transform the social conditions that give rise to harm. It advocates for restorative practices, community engagement, and transformative justice, often linking personal transformation to systemic change.
Scholars such as Harold Pepinsky and Richard Quinney have been instrumental in shaping this school of thought.
Theoretical Reference
Part of critical criminology, peacemaking criminology draws on nonviolence, spirituality, and restorative justice to rethink how society defines and responds to crime.