Religion and Restorative Justice

Dear Colleagues,

Throughout human history, religion has played an important role in the development of social control and governance, including the evolution, function, and reform of criminal justice systems. Contemporary developments in criminal justice reflect philosophical, theological, and religious sensibilities— by determining both the laws that govern civil society and the accountability measures implemented against those who violate them. Similarly, religious codes of justice often stand at odds with criminal justice practice when laws are deemed unjust by religiouus institutions. Finally, religious institutions provide care and counsel to persons impacted by crime and criminal justice systems through prison and jail ministries, and through services that support families and victims. Indeed, the history of criminal justice systems, especially in the United States, cannot be written without reference to the intersectionality between justice and religion, and their respective institutions. The evolution of the restorative justice movement has both its antecedents in religious influences over the creation of the penitentiary system in the United States and religious understandings of justice that emerged in the 1960s.

We are pleased to invite you consider submitting an article, essay, or book review in keeping with the theme of Religion and Restorative Justice to the journal Religions.

This Special Issue aims to further research on the ways in which religion and religious institutions inform restorative justice practices and to assist thinkers, professionals, and policymakers with best practces in restorative justice. Important to this discussion are religious definitions of the human and the ways in which such anthropologies relate to justice practices. 

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome, and research areas may include, but are not limited to, the following topics:

• Religion and the development of restorative justice;
• Religious/philosophical anthropology (definitions of the human) and criminal/restorative justice;
• Religion, restorative justice, and at-risk youth;
• Religion/theology, public policy, and restorative justice;
• Religion in the rehabilitation/reentry into society of prisoners.

We hope that this Special Issue will stimulate new research on the efficacy of restorative justice as humane policy and practice, as well as a recovery of the role of religion in the public sphere. In addition, we seek the advancement of critical theological and ethical thinking on matters of punishment, restoration, and accountability, as well as the intersection between law and community.

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 200-300 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send this to the Guest Editor or to the Assistant Editor of Religions Amity Zhang (amity.zhang@mdpi.com). Abstracts will be reviewed by the Guest Editor for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the special issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Harold Dean Trulear
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• restorative justic
• harmed party
• responsible party
• criminal justice reform
• theological anthropology
• redemption
• punishment
• accountability