day 2: forensic topic

Question 1

What is restorative justice?

Answer 1

• form of rehabilitation for the offender and as process of healing for the victim
• it can be used as alternative to prison or in addition community service
• restorative justice council (RJC) has set a standard of practice for professionals to follow
• it can be conducted face to face with victim or could involve making financial payment to victim or repairing damaged property.

Question 2

what is 4 features restorative justice?

Answer 2

1. offender accepting responsibility for their crime and acknowledging the consequences of their action
2. an opportunity to explain impact of the crime ( impact statement)
3. chance for victim to ask questions
4. active rather than passive involvement of both parties.

Question 3

evaluation

Answer 3

relies on offender showing remorse
- it is possible the offender only signs up to RJ as way of reducing their sentence or to avoid prison and therefore not show genuine remorse. the victim may also only be interested in seeking revenge rather than closure and so process may not have benefits in which it claims

flexible
- unlike custodial sentencing which tends to adopt “one size fits all approach”. there is a degree of flexibility in which programmes can be administered. this is positive in sense that schemes can be adapted and tailored to needs of indivual situation.

soft punishment
- many members of the public see RJ as soft option for dealing with offenders even though it reduces recivdism. it is estimated every £1 spent on RJ we would save £8 on reduced reoffending. ( shapland et al 2007) . however politicians are not keen to promote its use in fear of losing public support who prefer criminals to face retribution for their crimes.