The use of restorative justice in the legal context

• Grant number: 19/14445-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: April 01, 2020
• End date: March 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Psychology - Social Psychology
• Principal Investigator: Laura Vilela e Souza
• Grantee: Letícia Trombini Vidotto
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (FFCLRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 21/15192-9 - Development of restorative justice in Brazil: theoretical and practical contributions from Spain, BE.EP.DR

Abstract

Restorative Justice can be considered as a process by which all parties involved in a conflict come together to collectively resolve how to deal with the consequences of the offense and its implications for the future. Although several countries present positive results with the development of the JR, in Brazil it has been debated only in the theoretical scope and little explored empirically. Therefore, this research aims to analyze the conversational processes in restorative circles in the legal context in the possibility of promoting the restoration of conflicting relationships, in order to understand what resources are used in the conversational processes in JR and what the effects of this in the participants, what senses produced and to what extent the resources used by the facilitators respond to the principles and objectives of the JR. The context of analysis for this will be a childhood and youth branch of the interior of the state of São Paulo. The research will be carried out in two stages: observation of the restorative meetings and conversations with the promoter of justice and the facilitators of the processes, in order to understand the flow of referrals, strategies and tools that are used in each case. The analysis will consist of: 1) curious and intensive reading of transcripts and records of the field diary; 2) construction of thematic-sequential delimitations; 3) selection of moments of group construction that can help to reflect the objectives outlined in this project and 4) analysis and discussion of the selected moments, from the literature about the JR and social constructionism, epistemological basis that will be used in the research. It is hoped that this study will contribute to an understanding of the effects of these processes, collaborating with resources for the development and improvement of JR in Brazil, considering that the study and detailed description allows the evaluation of the potential, limits and alterations needed in this alternative model of justice. (AU)