G543 - Alternatives To Imprisonment - Sherman And Strang

Question 1

What type of search did they use?

Answer 1

Internet search

Question 2

What was the Internet search applied to?

Answer 2

Many databases of abstracts and academic periodicals worldwide

Question 3

What words were used in the internet search?

Answer 3

‘Restorative justice’ ‘re-offending’ ‘recidivism’

Question 4

How many ‘hits’ did the Internet search yield?

Answer 4

424

Question 5

How many researchers analysed the content of the 424 ‘hits’?

Answer 5

2

Question 6

What did the researchers aim to find in the ‘hits’ from the Internet search? What is this the minimum standard used by? In assessing what? To arrive at what?

Answer 6

Ones where a sample of offenders on a restorative justice programme were compared to a similar sample who did not experience RJ.
Minimum standard used by the home office in assessing re-conviction rates to arrive at what they call “reasonably unbiased results”

Question 7

How many studies did the second process yield? Which formed the basis for what?

Answer 7

36, which formed the basis for analysis to identify any evidence of effectiveness

Question 8

What were reductions in reoffending found for?

Answer 8

Violence and property crime, but RJ does not work in all cases

Question 9

In what cases does RJ work best?

Answer 9

In cases with a personal victim

Question 10

What can RJ improve from the victim’s viewpoint? Provided they have been what? By reducing? And helping them do what?

Answer 10

Their mental health, provided they have been willing participants. By reducing post-traumatic shock symptoms and helping them come to terms with what has happened

Question 11

What is there strong evidence for?

Answer 11

The effectiveness of Restorative justice in some cases in reducing reoffending

Question 12

Who was one of the advisors for the report?

Answer 12

A senior police officer with the Thames valley police

Question 13

What have Thames valley police developed expertise in?

Answer 13

Restorative conferencing

Question 14

What are the Thames valley police doing with the expertise in restorative justice?

Answer 14

Cascading it out to other police forces

Question 15

What does the report also point out?

Answer 15

It is becoming more widespread in schools with the publication of Daniel Goleman’s book ‘emotional intelligence’ as a theoretical basis

Question 16

What did they aim to do?

Answer 16

To look at good practice in restorative justice and to come to a conclusion on its effectiveness in reference to reoffending