Blackwell Reference Online

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Peacemaking is a state of existence or a way of being that is based on love and compassion; in particular, this mode of life calls for an end to human suffering through nonviolent means. It is a philosophy that encourages personal transformation and guides everyday life. Yet the peacemaking perspective also influences broader social changes and informs academic theorizing, research, and public policy. As it applies to criminology, peacemaking takes as its basic assumption that crime is suffering; since the way of peace necessitates an end to suffering, peacemaking criminology envisions an end to crime through the abolition of all suffering. Richard Quinney is the main theorist associated with peacemaking criminology. The primary goals of peacemaking include an understanding of personal suffering, an end to the many forms of suffering, and the realization of a society that maximizes human development and unites humankind ( Quinney 1991, 1995) . An awareness of human suffering is an integral element of peacemaking. Quinney (1991) noted that suffering occurs at intrapersonal, interpersonal, societal, and global levels. Intrapersonal suffering involves the physical pains and psychological problems that occur within the human body, whereas interpersonal suffering results from violence inflicted on one person by another. Poverty, hunger, homelessness, pollution, and the destruction ... log in or subscribe to read full text