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What are restorative justice programmes
Aim to help rebuild relationship between the offender, the victim, their family and the community at large
Attempt to improve the experience for the victim, as well as encourage the offender to take responsibility for their crime
What is criminal justice
crime and wrongdoing committed against the state and is a violation of law
seeks to determine guilty and impose punishment
exludes the people impacted from the justice outcome
What is restorative justice
crime and wrongdoing causes harm to individuals and communities
concerned with repairing the harm cause by crime and wrongdoing
people most affected by crime should be key to the resolution of the harm caused
Restorative justice process - Braithwaite (2004)
Crime hurts, justice should heal
process of managed collaboration between offender and victim based on related principles of healing and empowerment
Key features of the restorative justice process
Focus on acceptance of responsibility and positive change for people who harm others - less emphasis on punishment
Not restricted to courtrooms; survivors and those responsible for harm may choose to meet face-to-face
Active rather than passive involvement of all parties in the process wherever possible
Focus on positive outcomes for survivors and those who have engaged in wrongdoing
Variations of the process
financial restitution to the victim which may reflect the damage done
Other variations include the offender repairing damaged property
Restorative justice is flexible and can funcation as an alternative to prison
What is the Restorative Justice Council
independent body whose role is to establish clear standards for the use of restorative justice and to support victims and specialist professionals in the field
Support of RJ - diversity of programme
unlike custodial sentencing, the RJ programme is flexible and can cove a wide range of application
positive in the sense that schemes can be adapted and tailored to the needs of the individual situation
Limitation - relies on the offender showing remorse
RJ relies on offender feeling remorse for their actions
victim may also have an anterior motive - to seek revenge
RJ programmes may not lead to positive outcomes when participants do not agree to take part with the best of intentions
Limitation - expensive
Shapland et al (2007) concluded that every £1 spent on restorative justice would save the criminal justice system £8 through reduced reoffending
RJ programmes offer suffer high drop out rates
in practice, RJ may not be the best and most cost-effective solution
