Punishment Theory, Holism, and the Procedural Conception of Restorative Justice

This Article has argued that the ongoing battle among punishment theories and the resulting consequences for real-life practice pose neither an inevitable nor preferable position on the criminal sanction. Instead, various theories can be accommodated using holism and holistic reasoning through a process-based methodology that avoids the prevailing problems of linear reasoning. In particular, the procedural conception of restorative justice offers an important component of a more holistic approach to sanctioning, allowing all interested parties to air their positions on punishment, both in theory and with regard to a particular offense. Although the participants may differ in their espoused rationales for criminal punishment, they may nonetheless agree to an appropriate result in a specific case.