restorative justice

• restorative justice

  a way of dealing with offending behaviour through rehabilitation and reconciliation with the victims
• what does restorative justice allow

  enables offenders to see the impact of their crime and serves to empower survivors by giving them a 'voice
• key features of the restorative justice programme

  trained mediator supervises the meeting

  focus is on positive outcomes for the victim and offender

  non-courtroom setting where offenders voluntarily meet with victims
• restitution

  the restoration of something lost or stolen to its proper owner

  offender repairing or paying for damage they caused
• emotional/psychological restitution

  the offender can support the healing process by repairing the survivors confidence or self - esteem
• 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
• strength of restorative justice

  evidence to suggest it effectiveness

  restorative justice council found that 85% of survivors reported satisfaction with meeting their offender face to face

  78% would recommend it to other people who are experiencing the same thing
• limitation of restorative justice

  restorative justice is time consuming and expensive and requires a highly skilled mediator which means it is unlikely to be available to everyone who needs it
• another limitation of restorative justice

  not appropriate for all types of crime

  in cases of domestic abuse it may cause trauma for the victim and give the offender another chance to assert power and dominance over the victim