The primary task of this dissertation is to demonstrate from the Old and New Testaments that given the creation and fall of man, the moral character of God will necessarily express itself in retributive justice so that God will impartially and equitably judge and punish sin. Chapter 1 introduces briefly the subject of God's retributive justice by presenting the current theological climate in which the topic exists. Numerous opponents of retributive justice are cited in an effort to clarify the relevence of current work. Finally, the subject of retributive justice is linked to God's holiness in an effort to show its theological relevence. Chapter 2 catalogues the various arguments against God's retributive justice. The major objections to retributive justice are discussed in detail in order to better understand those who opposes it. In addition, the discussion is classified into exegetical, theological, and practical objections to God's retributive justice. Chapter 3 unfolds God's retributive justice as it appears in the Old Testament. After drawing the exegetical connections between God's holiness and retributive justice, biblical examples from the Pentateuch are cited in order to show that the concept of retributive justice appears early and often in Scripture. From here, the study examines numerous Psalms in an attempt to demonstrate that God's retributive justice is apparent in this genre of Scripture as God, the just judge and king, imposes his just rule upon the earth. After treating the Psalms, I show that God's retributive justice is apparent in the covenant curses of the prophets, which come to fruition as a result of Israel's rebellion. In chapter 4, I argue that the New Testament Gospels adopt the Old Testament's doctrine of God's kingdom but combine it with the Old Testament concept of the priesthood. God imposes his justice in a twofold manner. First, in the inaugurated kingdom, Christ, as the suffering servant and perfect sacrifice, bears the burden of man's sin at the cross as he suffers the wrath of his Father. Second, to consummate the kingdom, Christ promises to return as the Messiah of Psalm 2 and impose his final judgment upon mankind. In chapter 5, I extend the argument by concentrating on the writings of Paul. I argue that the idea of God's retributive justice is on display in both the realized and future aspects of Christ's kingdom. Focusing on the book of Romans, I show the sustained emphasis on God's wrath that is exhibited at the cross. As in the Gospels, however, the resurrected Christ will return to judge mankind. Chapter 6 is devoted to the eschatological themes of God's retributive justice in the rest of the New Testament writings, especially those themes in the book of Revelation. Finally, in chapter 7, I conclude by recounting briefly the various arguments in favor of God's retributive justice in order to summarize the persuasive case for my dissertation. / This dissertation is under embargo until 2014-12-14.

Executive clemency is assumed to be a mechanism to correct miscarriages of justice brought about by the criminal justice system, yet little empirical research exists to confirm this assumption. This research study examined the types of rationales cited in 799 cases of executive clemency from six states from 2005 to 2012. Rationales based upon retributive philosophies, in which a miscarriage of justice was cited, were further analyzed. This analysis revealed that only seven percent of all clemency decisions from the examined states cited retributive rationales. Of the fifty-six grants of clemency that cited retributive rationales, most were granted in the forms of pardons. The analysis indicated that executive clemency is utilized as a mechanism to correct injustices, specifically in cases of innocence. This study concludes with a discussion of policy implications and the reliance on executive clemency as a fail-safe to the criminal justice system.

This thesis explores the merits and limits of John Hawthorne’s contextualist analysis of free will. First, I argue that contextualism does better at capturing the ordinary understanding of ‘free will’ than competing views because it best accounts for the way in which our willingness to attribute free will ordinarily varies with context. Then I consider whether this is enough to conclude that the contextualist has won the free will debate. I argue that this would be hasty, because the contextualist, unlike her competitors, cannot tell us whether any particular agent is definitively free, and therefore cannot inform any practices that are premised on whether a particular agent is morally responsible. As such, I argue that whether the contextualist “wins the free will debate” depends on whether it is more important to capture the ordinary understanding of ‘free will’ or more important to inform our practices of ascribing moral responsibility.

This thesis explores the merits and limits of John Hawthorne’s contextualist analysis of free will. First, I argue that contextualism does better at capturing the ordinary understanding of ‘free will’ than competing views because it best accounts for the way in which our willingness to attribute free will ordinarily varies with context. Then I consider whether this is enough to conclude that the contextualist has won the free will debate. I argue that this would be hasty, because the contextualist, unlike her competitors, cannot tell us whether any particular agent is definitively free, and therefore cannot inform any practices that are premised on whether a particular agent is morally responsible. As such, I argue that whether the contextualist “wins the free will debate” depends on whether it is more important to capture the ordinary understanding of ‘free will’ or more important to inform our practices of ascribing moral responsibility.

As the timeframe of the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is running out this year, the Post-2015 Development Agenda soon arrive at its final negotiations. Criticisms of the MDGs have primarily concerned the inaccurate implementation of social justice to the most vulnerable and poor, and the limited understanding of the underlying interconnectedness of the goals. In several recent reports, it has been stated that the various aspects of social justice and inclusiveness shall permeate the new development agenda. I have therefore made it my task to conduct a content analysis of three key reports, providing the most likely basis for the new agenda. With this, my aim is to examine what different concepts of social justice is being expressed, whom the agenda foremost seems to favour in terms of ‘winners’ and ‘losers’, and what possible implications this could have for global development work. My analytical framework is constructed from three concepts of social justice: distributive, retributive and transformative justice. Ideal types of these three concepts have been constructed as the analytical instrument of the study, in order to simplify the content analysis.      In the study, it is concluded that it is likely that the new development agenda will aim for distributive justice, although the road to get there leads through major transformational shifts. The structural and societal causes (transformative injustice) of inequalities, poverty and unsustainability are targeted to finally achieve universal equality (distributive justice). The most marginalized, vulnerable and poor can thus been classified as the utmost winners of the suggested new agenda. Moreover, vague expressions of retributive justice were found regarding foremost climate justice. The possible implications of this could prove to be a more welcoming attitude towards the agenda negotiations, albeit on the cost of decreased accountability.

Justice and reconciliation are both highly complex concepts that are often described as incompatible alternatives in the aftermath of violent conflicts, despite the fact that both are fundamental to peacebuilding in societies divided by the legacies of political violence, oppression and exclusion. This thesis examines the relationship between justice and reconciliation, pursued as essential ingredients of peacebuilding. After advancing an inclusive working conceptual framework in which seemingly competing conceptions regarding justice and reconciliation are reconceived to work compatibly for building peace, the thesis presents the results of an in-depth case study of Rwanda's post-genocide justice and reconciliation endeavour. The thesis focuses on Rwanda's justice and reconciliation efforts and their relationship to the ongoing challenge of reformulating Rwandans' social identities. A field research conducted for this study revealed that issues of victimhood, justice and reconciliation were highly contested among individuals and groups with varied experiences of the country's violent history. Resolving these conflicting narratives so that each Rwandan's narrative/identity is dissociated from the negation of the other's victimhood emerged as a paramount challenge in Rwanda's quest for justice and reconciliation. Rwanda's approach to justice and reconciliation can be seen as an innovative both/and approach that seeks to overcome dichotomous thinking by addressing various justice and reconciliation concerns in compatible ways. However, by limiting its efforts to the issues that arose from crimes committed under the former regimes, the justice and reconciliation endeavour of the Rwandan government fails to reconcile people's conflicting narratives of victimhood, which will be essential to transform the existing racialised and politicised ethnic identities of Rwandan people.

Este estudo investigou o cotidiano de adolescentes de famílias de baixa renda, especialmente daqueles que cuidam de seus irmãos, e suas concepções de justiça retributiva. Participaram 20 adolescentes, com idades entre 12 e 16 anos. Os instrumentos utilizados foram: ficha de dados sociodemográficos, genograma familiar, entrevista sobre o dia de vida e histórias sobre justiça retributiva. Os dados foram submetidos à análise de conteúdo. Os resultados indicam que tanto adolescentes do sexo feminino quanto do sexo masculino realizam atividades de cuidado. Todavia, as primeiras são as que mais assumem tarefas domésticas. Ambas as atividades acarretam prejuízos ao desempenho escolar. Esses adolescentes têm pouco tempo para o lazer. As sanções por reciprocidade foram as mais escolhidas. Entretanto, a opção por esse tipo de sanção deve-se mais a uma descrença na eficácia do castigo que a uma crença no poder educativo do diálogo. / This study investigated the daily lives of adolescents from low-income families, particularly those adolescents who look after their siblings, and the adolescents’ conceptions of retributive justice. Twenty adolescents, from 12 to 16 years of age, participated. The instruments were: a record of socio-demographic data, a family genogram, an interview about daily life, and vignettes about retributive justice. The data were content analyzed, and the results indicated that male adolescents were as likely as female adolescents to be involved in care activities although females were more likely to do domestic chores. Both activities were prejudicial to their school performance. These adolescents had little free time. Sanctions of reciprocity were most often chosen; however the choice of this type of sanction seemed more likely to involve disbelief in the efficacy of punishment than a belief in the educative power of dialog.

The Rome Statute saw the provision of three statutory rights for victims: the right to participation, protection, and reparations. The addition of these rights is an attempt to incorporate elements of restorative and reparative justice processes into a primarily retributive system. The emerging jurisprudence shows there are competing tensions developing in all areas. The right to participation saw initially broad decisions consistently scaled back by the Appeals Chamber to ensure a more streamlined approach. The right to protection, in contrast, has continued to be upheld by all Court levels resulting in significant trial challenges and delays. While the right to reparations remains untested, it is likely to only partially fulfill restorative aims. This thesis argues that while victim involvement has altered the traditional trial process, restorative aims will remain unmet. However, victim involvement has begun to shed light on the competing purposes of justice within the Rome Statute framework.

Este estudo investigou o cotidiano de adolescentes de famílias de baixa renda, especialmente daqueles que cuidam de seus irmãos, e suas concepções de justiça retributiva. Participaram 20 adolescentes, com idades entre 12 e 16 anos. Os instrumentos utilizados foram: ficha de dados sociodemográficos, genograma familiar, entrevista sobre o dia de vida e histórias sobre justiça retributiva. Os dados foram submetidos à análise de conteúdo. Os resultados indicam que tanto adolescentes do sexo feminino quanto do sexo masculino realizam atividades de cuidado. Todavia, as primeiras são as que mais assumem tarefas domésticas. Ambas as atividades acarretam prejuízos ao desempenho escolar. Esses adolescentes têm pouco tempo para o lazer. As sanções por reciprocidade foram as mais escolhidas. Entretanto, a opção por esse tipo de sanção deve-se mais a uma descrença na eficácia do castigo que a uma crença no poder educativo do diálogo. / This study investigated the daily lives of adolescents from low-income families, particularly those adolescents who look after their siblings, and the adolescents’ conceptions of retributive justice. Twenty adolescents, from 12 to 16 years of age, participated. The instruments were: a record of socio-demographic data, a family genogram, an interview about daily life, and vignettes about retributive justice. The data were content analyzed, and the results indicated that male adolescents were as likely as female adolescents to be involved in care activities although females were more likely to do domestic chores. Both activities were prejudicial to their school performance. These adolescents had little free time. Sanctions of reciprocity were most often chosen; however the choice of this type of sanction seemed more likely to involve disbelief in the efficacy of punishment than a belief in the educative power of dialog.

Este estudo investigou o cotidiano de adolescentes de famílias de baixa renda, especialmente daqueles que cuidam de seus irmãos, e suas concepções de justiça retributiva. Participaram 20 adolescentes, com idades entre 12 e 16 anos. Os instrumentos utilizados foram: ficha de dados sociodemográficos, genograma familiar, entrevista sobre o dia de vida e histórias sobre justiça retributiva. Os dados foram submetidos à análise de conteúdo. Os resultados indicam que tanto adolescentes do sexo feminino quanto do sexo masculino realizam atividades de cuidado. Todavia, as primeiras são as que mais assumem tarefas domésticas. Ambas as atividades acarretam prejuízos ao desempenho escolar. Esses adolescentes têm pouco tempo para o lazer. As sanções por reciprocidade foram as mais escolhidas. Entretanto, a opção por esse tipo de sanção deve-se mais a uma descrença na eficácia do castigo que a uma crença no poder educativo do diálogo. / This study investigated the daily lives of adolescents from low-income families, particularly those adolescents who look after their siblings, and the adolescents’ conceptions of retributive justice. Twenty adolescents, from 12 to 16 years of age, participated. The instruments were: a record of socio-demographic data, a family genogram, an interview about daily life, and vignettes about retributive justice. The data were content analyzed, and the results indicated that male adolescents were as likely as female adolescents to be involved in care activities although females were more likely to do domestic chores. Both activities were prejudicial to their school performance. These adolescents had little free time. Sanctions of reciprocity were most often chosen; however the choice of this type of sanction seemed more likely to involve disbelief in the efficacy of punishment than a belief in the educative power of dialog.