13 - Restorative Justice Flashcards
What is restorative justice based on?
Switch the emphasis from the needs of the state (to enforce the law and punish criminals) to the needs of the victim (to come to terms with crime and move on with their lives).
Restorative justice is a process of managed collaboration between the offender and the victim based on the principles of healing and empowerment. A trained mediator facilitates a meeting between the offender and the victim. The victim is given the opportunity to confront the offender and explain how the crime affected them. The offender is confronted with the consequences of their actions, including the emotional distress they have caused the victim.
What does restorative justice require the victim and offender to do?
Victims are encouraged to take an active role in the punishment of the offender, and offenders are required to take responsibility for their actions and face up to what they have done to their victim.
What principle is restorative justice based on?
Process of managed collaboration between the offender and the victim based on the principles of healing and empowerment.
How does restorative justice work practically?
Trained mediator facilitates a meeting between the offender and the victim.
Victim given opportunity to confront offender and explain how the crime affected them.
Offender confronted with consequences of their actions, including emotional distress they have caused victim.
What key features do all restorative justice programmes share?
Focus on acceptance of responsibility and positive change for offenders (less emphasis on punishment).
Not restricted to courtrooms, survivors (seen as more empowering than ‘victims’) and offenders meet face-to-face in a non-courtroom setting.
Active rather than passive involvement of all parties in the process.
Focus on positive outcomes for survivors and offenders.
When especially may restorative justice be used?
Offender is young
Additional to community service
Incentive to reduce an existing custodial sentence
What are the positives of restorative justice?
Unlike custodial sentencing, restorative justice is flexible in the way that programmes can be administered and the term itself covers a range of possible applications (including schools and hospitals). Schemes can be tailored to the needs of the individual situation.
Government funded research project conducted and found that every £1 spent on restorative justice would save the criminal justice system £8 by reducing recidivism. However, because restorative justice requires specialist and highly trained professionals it is very expensive and finding funding has proved challenging.
What are the negatives of restorative justice?
Success of restorative justice relies on the offender showing remorse. Some offenders might sign up for the scheme to avoid prison, or reduce their sentence, rather than from a genuine willingness to change. This could explain the high dropout rates in restorative justice, offenders often change their mind because they were not committed to the process in the first place.
Victims may have ulterior motive for agreeing to take part in restorative justice, they may simply want to seek revenge.
‘Women’s Aid’ has called for an end to the use of restorative justice in domestic abuse cases as offender can exploit opportunity to convince victim to take them back. Abusers often have a lot of power over their victims and so a meeting between them could be dangerous.
Unpopular with the general public as it is regarded as a ‘soft option’. Politicians unwilling to support it as they want to please the electorate by seeming ‘tough on crime’.
