Toward a Holistic Paradigm: Integrating Agency and Communion in Indonesia's Victim Justice System

Abstract

This article proposes a new conceptual paradigm for understanding justice for crime victims by emphasizing two fundamental dimensions of human existence: agency and communion. The background of the problem indicates that despite normative progress, traditional justice approaches—retributive, restorative, and procedural—have yet to fully address the victim's need to simultaneously restore these two existential dimensions, creating a gap between the ideal of holistic justice and the fragmented reality of practice. This study aims to address the specific problem of formulating a justice framework that integrates the restoration of the victim's agency (sense of control and autonomy) and communion (social connectedness). The methodology employed is qualitative with a theoretical-conceptual research design, utilizing an in-depth literature review of social psychology theories, victimology, and legal philosophy. Data analysis techniques include content analysis and conceptual synthesis to construct an integrative model. The study results in a "Rehabilitative Justice" framework that integrates elements of traditional paradigms to simultaneously restore victims' agency and communion. The discussion reveals that this approach provides a theoretical foundation for reforming the Indonesian criminal justice system to be more humanistic and victim-centered. In conclusion, justice for victims must be understood as an existential rehabilitation process that restores dignity and social bonds. Recommendations include a philosophical reorientation of criminal law, a procedural reconstruction towards meaningful participation, and an institutional transformation of victim protection agencies towards comprehensive psychosocial and existential support.