Restorative justice

Question 1

What is restorative justice

Answer 1

Restorative justice shifts focus away from the states needs for law enforcement and the punishment of criminals to the needs of the victim ie coming to terms with the crime and moving on. Victims are encouraged to take an active role in the offenders punishment and the offenders need to take responsibility for their actions.

It is a process of MANAGED COLLABERATION BETWEEN THE VICTIM AND OFFENDER based on the principles of HEALING AND EMPOWERMENT.

Question 2

What happens during restorative justice?

Answer 2

A trained facilitator mediates between the offender and the victim and the victim is given the chance to confront the offender about the effect their crime had on them. This forces the offender to confront he consequences of their crime and the emotional distress they caused.

Restorative justice programs are diverse but share key features.

• ) focus on acceptance of responsibility and positive change for the offender and less on punishment
• ) Offender and victim meet face to face outside of a court setting
• ) All parties in the process are active rather then passive.
• ) The focus is positive outcomes for the victim and offender.

Question 3

Restorative justice and custodial sentencing

Answer 3

Restorative justice can act as alternative for custodial sentencing or as an incentive to reduce custodial sentencing as the offender can make financial restitutions for damages they have caused or repair it themselv.es

Question 4

Strengths of restorative justice

Answer 4

-) Shapland conducted a study that found that for every £1 spent on restorative justice £8 could be saved reducing recidivism. However restorative justice is still expensive as it requires trained specialists.

Question 5

Weaknesses of restorative justice

Answer 5

• ) The success of restorative justice relies on the offender feeling remorse and some offenders may sign up to the scheme to avoid going to prison or reduce their sentence and are not willing to change. This explains high dropout rates in restorative justice as offenders were not committed to it.
• ) Victims may only sign up to restorative justice seeking revenge.
• ) It is unpopular with the general public as it is seen as the soft option and so they aren’t supported by politicians who want to seem tough on crime.
• ) The charity women’s aid wants to limit the use of restorative justice in domestic abuse cases as the offender can use it as an opportunity to convince the victim to take them back. Abusers tend to have a lot of power over the victims so meetings between them are dangerous.