Restorative Justice Programmes with Offenders

• Restorative justice aims to get criminals to empathise with the victim and understand the human consequences of their crime. In doing so it is hoped that this changes their cognitions. It also provides the victim with a voice to express their feelings.
• Collaboration between offenders and victims is at the heart of restorative justice and this is fundamentally different from all other forms of punishment.
• During restorative justice an offender will meet with the victim or family to see the consequences of their actions and allow the victims to have their say.
• Restorative justice programmes are carried out by trained mediators who supervise the meeting. They are usually in a non-courtroom setting.
• Restorative justice may occur pre-trial or could run alongside a prison sentence or offer an incentive to reduce the length of a sentence.
• The Restorative Justice Council (RJC) is an independent body whose role is to establish clear standards for the use of restorative justice.
• Some restorative justice programmes do not involve the victim as they may be ordered by the court.
• The Restorative Justice Council (RJC) reported the results of a 7-year research project (Shapland et al, 2008), where 85% of survivors reported satisfaction with the process of meeting their offender face to face.
• Shapland et al (2008) reported 78% would recommend restorative justice to other people experiencing a similar situation.
• According to Strang et al (2013) who conducted a meta-analysis of 10 studies, compared offenders who experienced face to face restorative justice with those who just experienced custodial sentencing. The restorative justice group was significantly less likely to reoffend.
• Bain (2012) found lower recidivism rates with adult offenders who had experienced one to one restorative justice.
• Restorative justice programmes are often relatively cheap and easy to administer.
• Sherman & Strang (2007) conducted a large scale multicultural study and found that restorative justice changed offenders perspectives and reduced recidivism.
• Sherman & Strang (2007) found that victim's mental health benefited from restorative justice by reducing post-traumatic stress.
• Restorative justice programmes often have high attrition rates and only work when both the victim and the perpetrator is highly motivated to complete the programme.
• Wood & Suzuki (2016) argue that restorative justice is not survivor-focused but is perhaps only a way of helping rehabilitate offenders. This suggests that the needs of the survivor may be seen as secondary to the need to rehabilitate the offender.
• Much of the evaluation of restorative justice programmes depend on self-report data from victims and offenders. This information is often unreliable and can be subject to social desirability.
• Victims are often reluctant to meet the offender, so restorative justice may not work in all cases.
• In cases of domestic violence, restorative justice may not be an appropriate way of dealing with offender behaviour.
• Liebman (2016) argues the main concern with domestic abuse cases is the power imbalance, and the pressure put onto the victims. This has serious ethical implications.
• It is difficult to measure the effectiveness of restorative justice without in depth longitudinal research.
• One limitation of restorative justice is that offenders may abuse the system. Not all offenders benefit from restorative justice and may go on to reoffend.
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