Restorative justice-EVAL Flashcards
one STRENGTH of using restorative justice as a way of dealing with offending behaviour is that it has RESEARCH support for benefit.
SHAPLAND did a 7 YEAR project.
*85% SATISFIED meeting offender face2face.
*78% would RECOMMEND
*60% felt BETTER about incident
*2% felt WORSE.
However, other research suggests that it may NOT be positive as the survivors are USED as a way of helping the OFFENDERS only and it does NOT help the survivor, putting their needs SECOND to the criminal.
A STRENGTH of using restorative justice as a way of dealing with offending behaviour is that it has research support of REDUCING RECIDIVISM:
meta analysis of 10 studies comparing F2F restorative justice and custodial sentencing
Restorative justice LESS likely to re-offend especially in VIOLENT crimes.
BAIN also found LOWER recidivism rates with adult offenders using 1to1 CONTACT rather than general community involvement
Therefore..
one ISSUE with using restorative justice as a way of dealing with offending behaviour is that it may NOT lead to success if the offender or victim isn’t GENUINE
Many prisoners may sign up for RJ to AVOID prison, DOWNPLAY their fault or take PRIDE in their relationship with survivor.
The VICTIM may also want to seek REVENGE or RETRIBUTION as they believe CUSTODIAL sentencing will NOT achieve these aims.
Therefore..
one ISSUE with using restorative justice as a way of dealing with offending behaviour is that it may NOT be useful in cases of DV
National police chief does NOT support use in DV cases as POWER BALANCE between abuser and abused may put PRESSURE on survivors who FEAR worst to go ALONG with partners suggestions during mediation.
Therefore it could do more HARM than good.
*HOWEVER, it has been used EFFECTIVELY as PRE-trial mediation in DV cases as it makes it EASIER to face abuser in court
