restorative justice - dealing with offending behaviour

what is restorative justice

system for dealing with offending behaviour which focuses on the rehabilitation of offenders through reconciliation with the victims, switches the emphasis from the needs of the state (to enforce the law and punish) to the needs of the victim in coming to terms with the crime and moving on, both offender and victim are encouraged to be active participants in the process

key features of restorative justice programmes

trained mediator to supervise meetings, non-courtroom setting where offenders voluntarily meet with survivors (f2f/online), survivor given opportunity to confront offender and explain how incident affected them so offender can see consequences of their actions, focus on pos outcomes for both offender and survivor, other relevant community members may have role in process e.g. family members

sentencing and restitution in restorative justice

restorative justice may occur pre-trial so offenders cooperation can be taken into account during the sentencing process, can function alongside prison sentence/ prison alternative/ incentive to reduce sentence length, financial restitution to survivor which may reflect psychological or physical damage, other variations may involve offender fixing damaged property themselves, can also be done in emotional sense e.g. helping re-build survivor’s self-esteem

restorative justice council (rjc)

independent body whose role is to establish clear standards for the use of restorative justice and to support survivors and specialists in the field, advocates use of restorative practice beyond dealing with crime e.g. preventing and managing conflict in schools, hospitals, children’s services

research support from shapland - strength of restorative justice

rjc conducted 7 year research project, found 85% of survivors reported satisfaction, 78% would recommend it to others, 60% survivors felt better about situation after process, only 2% felt worse - rj achieves its aims

research support for reduced recivism rates by strang - strength of restorative justice

meta-analysis of 10 studies comparing f2f rj with custodial sentencing and found rj group significantly less likely to reoffend (more significant in those who committed more violent crimes)

research support for reduced recivism rates by bain - strength of restorative justice

reviewed 24 published studies, found lowered recidivism rates with adult offenders esp when using 1-1 contact rather than general community involvement

research support for reduced recivism rates by sherman and shang - strength of restorative justice

reviewed 20 studies of f2f rj in UK, USA and Australia, all studies showed reduced reoffending and none were linked to higher reoffending, in 1 study, reoffending was 11%, compared to 37% for a matched control group

refuting research for positive outcomes by wood and suzuki - limitation of restorative justice

restorative processes not as survivor-focussed as often reported in satisfaction surveys, processes become distorted e.g. when survivors used to rehabilitate offenders rather than receiving help, needs of survivor seen as secondary

offenders may abuse system - limitation of restorative justice

rj success hinges on offender’s intentions being honourable, van gijseghem - suggests offenders may use RJ to avoid punishment or play down their faults - not all offenders benefit from rj

issues regarding use of restorative justice in domestic violence - limitation of restorative justice

national police chief’s council policy doesnt support use of rj in dv cases, liebman - concern of power imbalance between abuser and abused puts pressure on survivors, who may fear the worst if they disgree with their abuser when mediating

research support for use of restorative justice in domestic violence cases

lunnemann and wolthius - pre-mediational trial in dv cases produces pos outcomes for survivors, sen - restorative approaches useful in case of intimate partner violence where a couple has chosen to remain together, as they can address harm caused and plan for the future