Dealing with Offending Behaviour - Restorative Justice

Question 1

What is restorative justice?

Answer 1

-a system for dealing with offending behaviour which focuses on rehabilitation of offenders through reconciliation with victims

Question 2

What does Braithwaite suggest?

Answer 2

-‘crime hurts, justice should heal’
-justice is less about ‘retribution’ and more about ‘reparation’.

Question 3

What does restorative justice seek to focus on?

Answer 3

1. the victim of the crime and their recovery
2. the offender and their recovery process

Question 4

What are the 7 key features of the programme?

Answer 4

1. trained mediator supervises the meeting
2. non-courtroom setting
3. can be face to face or remotely
4. survivor is given the opportunity to confront and explain how its affected them
5. active involvement over passive where possible
6. focus is on positive outcomes for both parties
7. other relevant members may have a role in the process

Question 5

When does restorative justice occur?

Answer 5

-pre trial
-alongside a prison sentence
-an alternative to prison
-incentive to reduce the length of a sentence

Question 6

What is restitution?

Answer 6

-monetary payment by an offender to the survivor for the harm resulting from the offence
-may reflect the psychological or physical damage caused
-or in an emotional sense - by repairing the survivors confidence

Question 7

What is the restorative justice council?

Answer 7

-independent body whose role is to establish clear standard for the use of restorative justice and to support survivors and professionals in the field

Question 8

What does the RJC advocate?

Answer 8

-the use of restorative practice beyond dealing with crime
-can be used in preventing conflict in many areas like schools

Question 9

What evidence is there that RJ is effective?

Answer 9

-reported results of a major 7 year research project
-85% of survivors reported satisfaction with the process of meeting their offender face to face
-78% would recommend it to others in the same situation
-60% survivors felt it made them feel better about the incident
-enables them to feel closure and to move on
-suggets that RJ achieves some of it aims, helping survivors of crime cope with the aftermath of the incident

Question 10

What is a counter argument to RJ?

Answer 10

-Wood + Sukuki argue that restorative processes are not as survivor focused as often often reported
-researchers say that the process can be helpful in the rehab of offenders and not focused on the offender = making them feel used

Question 11

How does restorative justice impact recidivism?

Answer 11

-Strang carried out a meta-analysis of 10 studies
-compared to offenders who experienced face to face RJ and those who just received a custodial sentence
-RJ group was less likely to reoffend
-this was largely for those who had committed violent crimes rather than those crimes against property
-Bain conducted a review of 24 studies and found lower recidivism rates with adult offenders when using 1 to 1 contact rather than community involvement
-suggests that RJ has a positive impact on reoffending

Question 12

What is a limitation of RJ?

Answer 12

-may abuse the system
-success of the programme may hinge on an offenders intentions being honourable
-they must be taking part because they genuinely regret the hurt caused and want to make amends
-Gijseghem suggests that offenders may use RJ for all kinds of reasons: avoiding punishment and playing down their faults
-this explanations why not all offenders ultimately benefit from RJ and go on to reoffend

Question 13

What benefits are there for the survivors of crime who participate in the RJ process?

Answer 13

-seeing offender face to face and apologising
-may feel like the survivors feelings have been listened to do
-may provide them with some sort of closure