The Value of Researching Restorative Justice Policy through Discourse Analysis

Despite the extensive and growing literature on restorative justice, limited research has been conducted on policies, and particularly on international policies on restorative justice. As a result we know little about the contribution of policies to the development of the restorative justice vision and agenda. This chapter argues that a theoretically informed discourse analysis of restorative justice policies presents numerous advantages in understanding the ways in which restorative justice is constituted through them. In particular, this chapter adopts a policy-as-discourse approach based on Carol Bacchi’s (2009) What is the problem represented to be? (wpr) analytical strategy, unpacking how restorative justice is shaped by international policies, the assumptions which support the most salient policy representations, their possible effects and how to address them.