Justice and its Flaws

 

Throughout Elizabeth Spelman’s Repair, we have been introduced to several forms of repair and how they are evident in our lives. In Chapter 4 specifically, Spelman writes relates repair to our criminal justice system and its affect(s) on the social fabric of life. The two forms of punishment that she mentions are that of retributive and restorative justice. Retributive justice refers to the form of punishment associated with the extraction or removal of a criminal from the community in which they committed a felony or broke a law. Under Retributive justice, the criminal is typically incarcerated or subject to some form of solitary confinement. On the other hand, the less popular form of justice (restorative) is concerned with fixing more profound things such as the internal damage suffered by members of a community that were impacted by a crime or criminal.

 

Retributive justice is the most commonly used form of punishment by law enforcers, but does this mean that it is properly justified or correct? Is there a more effective alternative to retributive justice that both protects a community from the potential dangers of a criminal and restores the social fabric back to a functioning and normal state? The answer to these questions, in my opinion, lies in the principles and aspects of restorative justice. Spelman writes in Chapter 4, “…the law focuses on those harms only to the extent necessary to establish the guilt the offender and the appropriate level of punishment to be meted.” My interpretation of this quote is that the law does not holistically fix or heal the feelings or emotions of the victims of a crime. Imprisonment may not always heal or correct a law breaker as well. In fact, imprisonment may intensify or worsen a situation. In the movie Shawshank Redemption, the extent to which the negative effects imprisonment could potentially have on a criminal are accurately depicted. The movie focuses on men that have been imprisoned for breaking various laws and as a result were sent to a prison camp, Shawshank. At this camp, men from all walks of life are mixed together and forced to self-correct themselves as punishment. One character in particular, Brooks, was imprisoned in Shawshank for nearly 49 years and was released under the discretion of the prison guards. After Brooks was released, he wasn’t sure how to cope with reality mentally because society had evolved so much. Things like automobiles that were just becoming popular before he was sent away to prison were used in everyday life by the time he was released. New styles of fashion and rapid urbanism had made its way into Brook’s town.

 

Afraid, confused, and angry, Brooks did not know how to properly deal with this seemingly new world that he had been released into. In order to deal with these mixed emotions that resulted from this culture shock, Brooks hung himself. Although Shawshank Redemption may be a fictional story, I feel that some facets of the effects of imprisonment are accurately portrayed. One who is sent away to prison is forced to resolve an internal problem, a problem that may require professional attention or care. Prison also prevents one from evolving with and contributing to society to a degree. The proposed solution, as Spelman points out, to these problems is that of reparative justice. This form of justice involves allowing a said criminal to interact with those that were directly or indirectly affected by his/her wrongdoing, the opposite of retributive justice. Restorative justice allows one to reflect upon one’s actions and how they have affected others. This form of justice provides closure to both the victim and oppressor of a crime. Restorative justice aims to both improve the behavior of an oppressor while at the same time repairs the internal damage faced by victims of a crime and restores the social fabric of a community to an orderly state.

 

In chapter 2 of Elizabeth V. Spelman’s Repair, various forms of repair and their practitioners are analyzed and discussed. In this chapter, Spelman introduces Willie, Fred, Louise, Elisabeth, and Irene, each professional repairers in distinct yet similar ways. We learn that Willie aims to repair items to return them to a functioning state, Fred restores items, with aesthetic and authenticity being the hallmark of his work, and Louise, Elisabeth, and Irene repair to conserve with the utmost regard to detail as well as discreetness.

Willie is first introduced in the beginning of Chapter 2. Willie is the owner of a small workshop in New York and primarily provides service to the people of his town. While his specialty is repairing Saab automobiles, he also repairs automobiles and tractors. What makes Willie so unique is that he hardly ever follows factory specifications or adheres to guidelines; Willie strives to utilize the materials that he has available to him to engineer a product to a state that is worthy of use. In other words, Willie, is known as a bricoleur.

In modern day society, it is often very difficult to find repairmen that specialize in the same work that Willie does. It is not rare, however, to encounter one that does the work of Fred, for example. In fact, Fred’s work can almost be considered ubiquitous. To further examine this dichotomy, we could list and discuss influences that time has had on society. As time progresses, technological advancements and improvements are made. These advancements are seemingly inevitable, as we have transformed the automobile from a humble horse and buggy to having an electric powered engine. With these advancements also come modifications and improvements to appearance.

It seems that as we continue to make advances as a society, we have set the precedent that visual appearance is a requirement. Ingenuity without regard to appearance has become something of the past. The once popular MacGyver television series seems to have fallen into the past and been forgotten. Just like MacGyver, repairmen with similar specialties as Willie seem to be few and far between due to the rapidity of advancements society has and continues to make.