restorative justice

Question 1

What is the purpose of restorative justice?

Answer 1

to change the emphasis from the needs of the state to enforce laws and punish to the needs of the victim to feel compensated in some ways and come to terms with the crime = healing process method
Less about retribution and more about reparation

Question 2

key features of restorative justice

Answer 2

• Trained mediator supervises the meeting.
• Non-courtroom setting where offenders voluntarily meet with survivor(s).
• Can be face-to-face meeting or conducted remotely via video link.
• The survivor is given the opportunity to confront the offender and explain how the incident affected them. This enables the offender to comprehend the consequences of their actions, including the emotional distress it caused.
• It is important that there is active rather than passive involvement of all parties in the process wherever possible.
• The focus is on positive outcomes for both survivors and offenders.
• In addition, other relevant community members may have a role in the process, such as neighbours, friends, family members. They may all wish to explain the effects of the crime.

Question 3

what is restitution

Answer 3

offender giving monetary payment for physical and psychological damage caused or supporting healing process by rebuilding and restoring survivor’s self esteem

Question 4

Evaluation

Answer 4

POSITIVE OUTCOMES
P - One strength is that the evidence suggests it has positive outcomes
E - Shapland (2008) after a 7-year project they found 85% of survivors reported satisfaction with the process of meeting their offender face-to-face and 60% of survivors felt the process had made them feel better about the incident – enabling them to feel closure and ‘move on’.
E - this suggests that restorative justice achieves some of its aims, helping survivors of crime cope with the aftermath of the incident.

RECIDIVISM
P - another strength is that restorative justice does seem to lead to a decrease in rates of offending
E - Sherman and Strang (2007) conducted a meta-analysis and compared 36 studies of restorative justice with conventional justice such as prison and found reductions in reoffending rates for violent and property crimes. For victims, post-traumatic stress disorder were significantly reduced and all parties reported greater satisfaction with the overall process than for conventional justice.
E - This suggests that restorative justice has a positive impact on reoffending, maybe more so for some types of offence than others and some approaches.

ABUSING THE SYSTEM
P - One limitation of restorative justice is that offenders may abuse the system.
E - The success of restorative justice programmes may hinge on an offender’s intentions being honourable - that is, they must be taking part because they genuinely regret the hurt caused and they want to make amends. However, Van Gijseghem (2003) suggests that offenders may use restorative justice for all kinds of reasons: avoiding punishment, playing down their faults, even taking pride in their relationship with the survivor using direct contact.
E - This would explain why not all offenders ultimately benefit from restorative justice and go on to reoffend.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
P - One limitation of restorative justice is that it is not effective for all types of crime
E - Whilst restorative justice is permitted in cases of domestic violence, the National Police Chief’s Council (NPCC) policy does not support its use in this context. Liebman (2016) argues that the main concern is that the power imbalance between abuser and abused puts pressure on survivors, who may fear the worst if they do not go along with their partner or ex-partner’s suggestions during mediation.
E - This is a limitation as it shows how the victim may not gain closure and reverse any progress made