Dealing with offending behaviour: restorative jusitice

Restorative justice

A system for dealing with offending behaviour which focuses on the rehabilitation of offenders through reconciliation with victims (survivors)

This enables an offender to see the impact of their crime and serves to empower survivors by giving them a ‘voice’

Changing the emphasis

• restorative justice programmes switch the emphasis from the needs of the state to the needs of the individual survivor.

• In doing this the method of treatment seeks to be a healing process

• Baithwaite suggests ‘crime hurts justice should heal’. Restorative justice is less about retribution and more about reparation

• The aims set out above mean that restorative justice seeks to focus on two things

The victim of the crime and their recovery

The offender and their recovery , rehab process

Key features of programme

Restorative justice programmes can be quite diverse but most share key features such as:

• trained mediator supervises the meeting

• Non courtroom setting where offenders voluntarily meet with survivors

• Can be face to face meeting or conducted remotely via video

• The survivor is given the opportunity to confront the offender and explain how the incident affected them

• The focus is on positive outcomes from both survivors and offender

Sentencing and restitution

RJ may occur pre trail. It could also function alongside a prison sentence or as an alternative to prison or as an incentive to reduce the length of a sentence

Restitution is often seen as a monetary payment by of offender to the survivor for the harm resulting from the offence. Therefore an offender may make some financial restitution to the survivor which may reflect the psychological damage caused or the actual physical damage

However the idea of restitution or paying back can also be in more emotional sense. The offender can support the healing process by repairing the rebuilding the survivors confidence or self esteem

Restorative justice council (RJC)

The RJC is an independent body whose role is to establish clear standards for the use of restorative justice and to support survivors and specialist professionals in the field

The RJC advocates the use of restorative practise beyond dealing with crime . It can be used in preventing and managing conflict in many areas including schools children services, workplaces, hospitals and communities.

Needs of the survivor

P. One strength of the RJ is that evidence suggests it has positives Outcomes

E. The restorative justice council (shapland) reported the results of a major seven year research project

E. Figures are 85% of survivors reported satisfaction with the process of meeting their offender face to face. 78% would recommend it to others experiencing a similar situation. 60% of survivors felt the process had made them feel better about the incident - enabling them to ‘move on’

L. This suggests that RJ achieves some of its aims, helping survivors of crime cope with the aftermath of the incident

H. RJC report 2% of people felt worse after RJC

Recidivism

P. A strength is that RJ does seem to lead to a decrease in rates of reoffending

E. A meta analysis of ten studies by heather strang et al compared offenders who just experienced custodial sentencing. The RJ group was significantly less likely to reoffend

E. Similarly a review of 24 published studies by Bain found lowered recidivism rates with adult offenders, especially when using one to one contact rather than general community involvement

L. This suggests that RJ has a positive impact on reoffending maybe more so for some types of offence than others and some approaches

Abusing the system

P. One limitation of RJ is that offenders may abuse the system

E. The success of RJ programmes may hinge on an offenders intentions being honourable - that is they most be taking part because they genuinely regret the hurt caused and they want to make amends.

E. However gijsegham suggests that offenders may used restorative justice for all kinds of reasons avoiding punishment, playing down their faults even taking pride in their relationship with survivor using direct contact

L. This would explain why not all offenders ultimately benefit from RJ and go on to reoffend

H. Always exceptions but focus on utilitarianism