Dr. Braithwaite is a Professor in the Law Program, Research School of Social Sciences at Australian National University (ANU), and a member of ANU’s Centre for Restorative Justice.

His special interests include business regulation and white-collar crime. His focus for twenty years has been on restorative and responsive regulatory ideas. As an author, coauthor or editor of numerous books and articles, he has contributed significant research to the application of restorative justice principles to business crime as well as to more traditional forms of juvenile and adult crime.

Dr. Braithwaite’s 1989 book, Crime, Shame and Reintegration, has been highly influential in demonstrating that current criminal justice practice creates shame that is stigmatizing. Restorative justice, on the other hand, seeks to reintegrate the offender by acknowledging the shame of wrongdoing but then offering ways to expiate that shame.

In the 1980's and early 1990's, John worked on formulating restorative approaches to coal mine safety regulation. Then, in conjunction with Toni Makkai, Valerie Braithwaite, Diane Gibson and others, he helped develop restorative strategies in nursing home regulation, including the institution of exit conferences after regulatory inspections.

In addition, John has been an active member in a wide variety of NGOs. He served as a part-time commissioner in Australia’s Trade Practices Commission from 1985 to 1995 and on the Economic Planning Advisory Council, Chaired by the Prime Minister, from 1983-87. In 2000, he participated in an important conference in Northern Ireland that examined the possibilities for using restorative justice ideas and practices to further the peace process there.

For his extensive work on crime issues, John Braithwaite has won numerous international prizes from the American Society of Criminology, the British Socio-Legal Studies Association, the Society for the Study of Social Problems, and the Institute for Financial Crime Prevention. Leading Edge. John is currently working on the jurisprudence of restorative justice. He asks two questions:
(1) what are restorative justice values? and,
(2) how should they inform its procedural ideas?
Restorative justice is informed by values such as mercy and forgiveness that may be limited by the retributive (just deserts) quest for proportional punishment. At the same time, mercy and forgiveness cannot be forced. Maximizing the restorative values of empowerment and respectful communication provide an open space to deal with the harm of the crime, build respect, and allow for healing. This process allows victims to make forgiveness or mercy their gift.

We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of the Prison Fellowship International Centre for Justice and Reconciliation, for the content of this biography which first appeared in the Leading Edge at http://www.restorativejustice.org. Any errors or omissions belong to the Centre for Restorative Justice.