REFLECTION PAPER 1

Reflection Paper

Student’s Name

Institutional Affiliation
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Based on the knowledge learned in the criminal justice field compared to the biblical

worldview and my general experiences in life, the issue that always comes to my mind is

whether we should advocate for retributive justice or do away with it. Since we are all

believers, should we advocate for restorative justice rather than retributive justice outlined by

the law? Retributive justice is a form of punishment that requires those who break or offend

the law to suffer in return for the crime committed (Hogan & Emler 2010). This form of

justice requires the punishment to be proportionate to the same level as the crime committed.

Biblically, retribution is illustrated using terms such as ‘an eye for an eye’ as

referenced in the book of Exodus and also ‘tooth for a tooth’ as referenced in the book of

Leviticus (Daniels, D 2020). Ancient political laws and philosophies supported retributive

justice because they believed justice was achieved when the lawbreakers faced punishment

equal to the offense committed. Retributive justice should not be personal because it is in

accordance with the law (Sherman & Strang 2007). However, the contradiction comes in

when collateral consequences of retribution are included. These consequences include pain

and suffering of the family, which come from punishing the wrongdoer (Walen, 2014). For

instance, the offender is accused of murder and given a life sentence or death sentence. The

family ends up suffering emotionally while some children turn into orphans. This is contrary

to the biblical expectation of justice, which reveals whether retributive justice is fair before

God or should we follow the ten commandments, which advocates for forgiveness and not

committing murder.

The course materials state clearly that punishment does not always have to be

equivalent to committed. But for the sake of justice to the punisher, the penalty should be

harsher in a situation where the crime is severe compared to a lesser offense. For instance,

rape and murder are often regarded as severe cases which should be punished harshly than

theft. As much as retributive justice is legal in many countries, some cultures are against it,
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which should be respected. This is because some communities rank their cultures higher than

laws.

Taking a closure look at this issue, retributive justice may be considered appropriate.

Initially, I believed it is against the Bible, and the bible advocates only for restorative justice.

The Bible itself supports both retributive and restorative justice. In our daily lives, we

encounter situations where we are supposed to decide if we should punish the wrongdoers the

same way we have experienced the pain or be restorative and maintain that bond. In

conclusion, as long as we are submissive under the law, we should advocate for retributive

justice regardless of our backgrounds and cultures.

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References

Daniels, D. W. (2020). New King James-The Bridge Bible. Chick Publications.

Hogan, R., & Emler, N. P. (2010). Retributive justice. In The justice motive in

social behavior (pp. 125-143). Springer, Boston, MA.

Sherman, L., & Strang, H. (2007). Restorative justice: The evidence. Smith

Institute.

Walen, A. (2014). Retributive justice.