restorative justice

• Restorative justice is a system that deals with offending behaviour which focuses on the rehabilitation of offenders through reconciliation with victims, enabling offenders to see the consequences of their actions and empower survivors.
• It switches the needs of the state (punishment) to the needs of the victim (to feel compensated in some way). It seeks to be a healing process and is less about retribution (punishing offender) and more about reparation (repairing the harm they have caused)
• It focuses on the victim and their recovery and the offender and their rehabilitation process
• Key features of the programme include a trained mediator, non court room setting where offenders voluntarily meet their survivors. Can be virtual or face to face and victims confront offenders, to enable offenders to comprehend the consequences of their actions. It is important there id active not passive involvement from both parties and focuses on positive outcomes.
• It may occur pre trial and can influence their sentencing. It could be alongside a prison sentence or as an alternative to prison.
• Restitution is often seen as a necessary payment for the harm of the offence so an an offender may make financial restitution or repairing damage they made themselves. This is to reflect psychological or physical damage. The restitution can also be in a more emotional sense, where an offender supports the healing process by repairing the survivor's confidence.
• Restorative justice council is an independent body who establish clear standards for the use of restorative justice and supports survivors. It advocates using RJ beyond crime and can be used in managing conflict in many areas such as school and workplace.
• One strength of restorative justice is that there is evidence to suggest it has positive outcomes. Shapland found the restorative justice council reported results from a seven year research project. 85% of survivors were satisfied and 78% would recommend it to others. 60% said it gave them closure and only 2% said it made them feel worse. This is reliable evidence as it used a longitudinal study.
• A strength is that is does seem to lead to a decrease in recidivism. Strang did a meta analysis of ten studies and compared face to face restorative justice schemes to custodial sentencing. The restorative justice group was significantly less likely to reoffend. The reduction was larger in violent crimes. It used a meta analysis, meaning it was reliable due to consistency.
• One limitation of restorative justice is that offenders may abuse the system. It relies on the offender being honourable but one researcher suggests offenders use it for all kinds of reasons such as avoiding punishment or playing down their faults. This explains why not all offenders benefit from it and go on to reoffend.
• In domestic violence cases, it puts a power imbalance between the survivor and offender, putting pressure on the survivor, who may fear the worse if they do not go along with it. Others argue in these cases there is positive results for survivors, especially in cases where they intend to stay together as they can plan their future.
• There may be ethical issues involved if it ends up doing more bad than good.
• It is less expensive than custodial sentencing and if it reduces recidivism, it may be more cost effective.