Restorative Justice Schemes

Question 1

what is the AO1 for restorative justice schemes (RJSs)

Answer 1

• RJSs involve the offender coming face to face with their victim.
• The victim takes an active role in the process, and the offender must take responsibility and face up to what they have done- “crime hurts, justice could heal”.
• A trained mediator hosts a meeting between offender and victim, in which the victim is encouraged to confront the offender and explain how the incident affected them.
• The offender should be able to see the consequences of their actions, including the emotional distress they caused.
• This is key in rehabilitation.
• The process should be mutually beneficial for both offender and victim (or “survivor” is the term used in practise).
• Variations in the process involve the offender paying for the damage they caused; the amount should reflect the psychological or physical damage done.
• Other schemes involve the perpetrator actually repairing the physical damage they caused (damage to property etc).
• These processes are particularly useful with young offenders.
• The Restorative Justice Counsel (RJC) is the independent body which manages this way of dealing with offending behaviour.
• It deals with all the agencies and people involved in the program and ensures it is practised appropriately throughout the UK.

Question 2

what is the +ve AO3 point, flexibility

Answer 2

• One massive strength of this program is its flexibility.
• It can be used as an alternative to custodial sentencing, as an additional resource to cut recidivism, and tailored to the individual needs of the victim and perpetrator.
• It is also a much deeper way of dealing with offending behaviour, as opposed to the surface level “treatment” of behaviour modification.
• If used effectively, it should lead to a permanent change in the offender.

Question 3

what is the -ve AO3 point, psychopaths

Answer 3

• The success of this programme hinges on the assumption that the offender is able to feel remorse.
• Biological explanations of offending (such as decreased pre-frontal cortex and amygdala activity) suggest that come criminals have a biological inability to empathise.
• This would render this treatment useless for those individuals.

Question 4

what is the AO3 point, not tough enough

Answer 4

• Many politicians and members of the public criticise RJSs for being a soft option.
• They cite the importance of the punishment of the offender, and feel that is way more important than what RJSs can provide.
• They claim there is a danger that offenders fake remorse, and can sign up for these programmes to reduce their prison sentence.
• The fact that we are not sure whether offenders are truly sorry also makes the success of this program difficult to measure objectively short term (long term you do it via recidivism rates).

However its used extensively in norway, recidivism rates are 19% → goes against point

Question 5

what is the AO3 point, implication

Answer 5

• One implication of this programme is that the organisation Women’s Aid called for a legislative ban on the use of restorative justice in domestic violence cases, because of the power imbalance in the relationship between the abuser and the abused.
• A new way forward has now been agreed by the RJC and the charity

Question 6

what is the AO3 point, research into funding

Answer 6

• ## A 7 year government funded research project by Shapland (2007) concluded that for every £1 spent on RJPs the criminal justice system would save £8 through reduced recidivism. (+ve)
• However, critics argue that these costings do not take into account the extensive training each mediator would require in hosting the meetings, particularly in specialised areas such as those highlighted by Women’s Aid.
• Furthermore, attrition rates on the schemes are high and result in loss of money- when the offender or victim themselves lose their nerve close to the meeting and decide they cannot go through with it.