restorative justice Flashcards
what is restorative justice?
- system of dealing with criminal behaviour which focusses on the rehabilitation of offenders through reconciliation with the victims.
- Offenders see the impact of their crime and the process empowers victims by giving them a “voice.
what is the process of restorative justice?
– has to be voluntary for all parties and seeks a positive outcome being respectful and not degrading for either offender or victim
- aims:
- give victim opportunity to explain impact of crime (impact statements)
- give victim chance to ask questions
- offenders acknowledges harm caused
- offender accepts responsibility
- active rather than passive involvement of both parties
what are the aims of restorative justice?
- rehabilitation of offenders: victim has the opportunity to explain the real impact of the crime and this enables the offender to understand the effects on the victim
- atonement for wrongdoing: offenders may offer compensation for the crime (money etc.) – this is psychological by simply showing signs of guilt
- victims perspective: can reduce their sense of victimisation because they are no longer powerless and have a voice. Sometimes they want to be called survivors rather than victims. Can also develop a greater understanding of the offender
what is a theory of restorative justice?
- wachtel and mccold 2003
- focus should be on relationships instead of punishment and justice should be focused on healing harm
- the victim to seek reparation and offender to take responsibility and the community to achieve reconciliation for healthy society
- peace circles have been set up in areas where crime is high involving offender and victim working together
what is the restorative justice council?
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- independent body whose role is to establish clear standards for the use of restorative justice and to support survivors and specialist professionals in the field
- it advocates use of restorative practice beyond dealing with crime can help conflict in schools, workplaces etc
evaluate restorative justice?
how is supporting positive outcomes a strength of restorative justice?
- shapland et al (2008)
- reported 85% of satisfaction from victims
- 78% who would reccomend
- only 2% made feel worse
- shows that RJ achieves its aims of providing power to its victims and is clearly shown to be useful in majority of crimes
how is a decrease in reoffending a strength of restorative justice?
- recidivism
- meta analysis of 10 studies by strang et al 2013
- compared offenders who experiences face-to-face restorative justice schemes with those who just experienced custodial sentencing
- the RJ group was significantly less likely to reoffend
- larger in violent crime
- positive impact
how is abusing the system a limitation of Rj?
- offenders may abuse the system
- van gijseghem 2003 suggests that offenders may use RJ for all kinds of reasons: avoid punishment, playing down faults and even take pride in rship with survivor using direct contact
- explain why not all offenders ultimately benefit from RJ and go on to offend
How is domestic violence a drawback of RJ
- liebman 2016 argues main concern is power imbalance between abuser and abused puts pressure on survivors
- they may fear the worst if they do not go along with their partner/ex-partner’s suggestion during mediation
- more harm than good? feminist groups and commentators have called for a legislative ban on the use of it in this context
what is a counterpoint to domestic violence?
- Sen et al. (2018) suggest that restorative approaches are particularly useful in cases of intimate partner violence where a couple has chosen to remain together, as they can address the harm caused and plan for the future.
- However, it is likely that the majority of those abused are not considering continuing a relationship with their abuser, so this may only account for a small number of case
