In Conversation with Prof. Shadd Maruna

Crime, justice and criminology in the Republic of Ireland

“…It also stands in stark contrast to the contemporary approach to radicalisation to violent extremism that has been severely criticised for its preoccupation with risk and blurring of the lines between ‘deradicalisation’ and ‘desistance/disengagement’ (Braddock, 2018; Horgan and Braddock, 2010). Indeed, as Maruna (2020) points out, in Ireland we are a ‘desisting nation’, with many individuals released from prison after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement apparently disengaging from terrorism without deradicalising.…”

“…Marder (2019) argues that the potential for restorative justice to become the ‘default’ response to offending in Ireland is great, building on elements of Irish criminal justice culture that are sympathetic to a restorative approach, such as the (postcolonial) tendency towards informal and individualised justice (Hamilton, 2019). Maruna (2020) similarly strikes an optimistic note about the future of restorative justice in Ireland, arguing that this is an area where Ireland, together with other small countries such as New Zealand, are leading the way. This is arguably borne out by the rise of a focus on victimology within certain criminology departments such as the Centre for Crime, Justice and Victim Studies in the University of Limerick.…”