Restorative Justice

• what is restorative justice?


  a different way of dealing with offending behaviour where the survivor and offender meet face to face to provide reparation for harm done. Often given alongside punishments by the court
• what is restitution?


  to make up for a loss, injury or damage that has been caused
• how does restorative justice work?

  - active collaboration between the survivor and offender aims to aid the recovery of the survivor and the rehabilitation process for the offender

  - changes the emphasis from the state to the survivor and how they can be compensated in some way to help them overcome the crime. Move from retribution to reparation

  - empowers the survivor by giving them a voice

  - can occur at any point in the sentencing journey or alongside other mandates : pre-trial, alongside a custodial sentence, to reduce prison sentence, alongside community services alternative to prison etc
• what are the key element of restorative justice?

  - the two parties meet face o face with trained mediator supervising meeting

  - done outside of courtroom / custody

  - offender hear impact of crime on the survivor from their perspective and sees the consequences of their actions

  - the focus is on the offender taking responsibility for their actions and rehabilitation rather has punishment (active involvement of all parties) -- focus on positive outcome for survivors and offenders

  - other relevant members of the community present as social support for survivor
• how do survivors receive restitution?

  - may give survivor monetary payment to reflect psychological damage or actual physical damage (financial restitution)

  - may go and fix the property themselves

  - restitution through community service

  - emotional restitution : offender supports healing process by helping to repair confidence / self esteem
• how does Shapland et al support restorative justice?

  - conducted 7 year research project

  - found 85% of survivors reported positive experience and 60% felt it had helped them get closure and move on

  - 2% reported it made them feel worse
• how does Strang et al. support restorative justice?

  - meta-analysed 10 studies of RJ and custody vs custody alone

  - found the RJ group was significantly less likely to reoffend esp violent crime
• how does Van Gijseghem criticise restorative justice?

  - could be abused by offender

  - relies on offender honourable intentions sue to remorse

  - could be using it to avoid prison, relive crime, to get status + may not even accept guilty verdict

  - could cause survivor further harm e.g. domestic violence cases
• how is restorative justice programmes being flexible a strength?

  - flexible programme so is adapted to individuals and wide ranging

  - BUT can be difficult to research as it is harder to compare in a meta analysis