Danusha V. Goska

Confessional Culture and Restorative Justice

This is Danusha Goska.

President Roosevelt cheated on his wife. President Johnson threatened underlings. We know these ugly secrets now. While these men were alive, they were never discussed.

Two factors ended forever the era when a cordon of privacy surrounded public figures. Sixty years ago, it would be unthinkable for Eleanor Roosevelt to publicly discuss her heartache. Our current "confessional culture" demands that every private detail be picked over by pundits. Too, recording media are everywhere. Videocameras, phone taps, emails, invade and record the most intimate encounters.

President Clinton's adultery, Mayor Giuliani's affairs. Bobby Knight's temper. Suddenly, the public is asked to participate in what would previously have been private negotiations of justice. What must we, unwilling witnesses, demand?

The answer: restorative justice. Rather than focusing on punishing a criminal, restorative justice focuses on restoring dignity, safety, and lost value to victims. Restorative justice might not require that a basketball coach who lost his temper and threw a plant at a secretary apologize to his boss. Rather, restorative justice would focus on the victim, the secretary, and ask her what amends she needed to continue her life in a safe and dignified way. Restorative justice might not ask that the adulterous Rudy Giuliani step down from the New York senate race – after all, Giuliani did not cheat on New York's voters. Rather, restorative justice would focus on the wronged wife, and ask that her needs be met.

Because we, the public, witness public figures' private wrongs, we, as witnesses, must demand redress. However, we are not the direct victims. Restorative justice suggests a method whereby public figures' private wrongs can be addressed directly – by restoring value, dignity and safety to those directly harmed.

For Speak Your Mind, this has been Danusha Goska.

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