Restorative Justice

Question 1

What does it mean within restorative justice to ‘Change the emphasis’?

Answer 1

• Historically criminals committed a crime against the state
• switches emphasis from needs of states to needs of victims
• seeks to be a healing process Braithwaite suggested that ‘crime hurts, justice should heal’
• Less about retribution and more about reparation
• Two focuses: The victims of the crime and their recovery, The offender and their recovery process

Question 2

What are the Key Features of the programme?

Answer 2

• Trained mediator supervises the meeting
• Non-courtroom setting where offenders voluntarily meet with survivors
• Survivor can confront offender and explain the effect of the incident. Enables offender to comprehend consequences of their actions
• Important involvement is active rather than passive from all parties
• The focus is on positive outcomes for both parties
• Other relevant members may have a role i.e family and friends. All explain effects of crim

Question 3

How does sentencing and restitution work within restorative justice(RJ)?

Answer 3

• RJ may occur pre-trial and offenders involvement may be considered during sentencing, may occur during prison or as an alternative
• Restitution is seen as a monetary payment by an offender to survivor to compensate for harm. Or for cases like property damage, the offender may have to pay for damage themselves
• Restitution can also be more emotional, offender can repair survivors self esteem

Question 4

What is the restorative justice council?

Answer 4

• Restorative Justice Council (RJC) is an independent body who establishes clear standards for use of RJ and to support survivors and specialists professional
• RJC advocate the use of RJ beyond dealing with crime, managing conflict schools, hospitals and communities

Question 5

What are the positive outcomes of restorative justice?

Answer 5

• Shapland reported the RJC’s 7 year research project
• 85% of survivors supported satisfaction with the process and 78% would recommend it to others and 60% felt the process made them feel better and only 2% said it made feel worse
• suggests it has positive effects

Question 6

What is the effect of RJ on recidivism?

Answer 6

• Decreased recidivism
• A meta analysis by Strang compared offenders who experienced regular custodial sentencing compared to RJ
• RJ group was significantly less likely to reoffend

Question 7

How many offenders take advantage of RJ to abuse the system?

Answer 7

• Success of restorative justice programmes may hinge on an offenders intentions of being honourable
• Gijseghem suggests offenders may use restrictive justice for own gain: avoiding punishment, playing down faults