Restorative justice is about balance: between therapeutic and retributive models;

22nd March 2010

A new practice has been introduced to reduce the trauma that crime causes by a process of "restorative conferencing", a model of restorative justice that holds the offender directly accountable to the people he has harmed, often in front of others he trusts, including members of his family or community. The offender meets their victim in a controlled environment in which the anger, trauma and guilt surrounding an offence can be discharged by victim and offender, hopefully resulting in the ability for victims to come to terms with the trauma.

One offender comments that they had never given a thought to some of the effects that the victim had listed when they met during restorative conferencing. Restorative justice is the most effective tool the criminal justice system doesn't use. Four different evaluations of pilot schemes by the Ministry of Justice have found an average fall of 27% in reoffending rates. Just as important, the schemes are hugely popular among victims, with a take-up rate of 77% and a satisfaction rate of 85%. Research has also shown a decrease of 32% of victims diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder, who have taken part in restorative justice.

An excellent example is a pioneering centre in Denmark using restorative techniques with victims of sexual violence. Victims of sexual violence often long for answers to questions such as ‘why?’ this aspect is often lost in a court process that does not require defendants to explain their behaviour. Therefore restorative justice can be used as a tool to help victims to access the answers they are searching for.

Australian academic John Braithwaite, a leading advocate for restorative methods, believes that current criminal justice practice creates shame that is solely stigmatising and thus counterproductive, as it serves to symbolically exclude the criminal from law-abiding society long after their sentence has been served, making reoffending more likely. Reintegrative shaming, on the other hand, allows offenders to acknowledge wrongdoing, then offers ways to expiate that shame while encouraging others to readmit the offender to society.

 For link to full article which appeared on the 18th of March at the guardian.co.uk written by Libby Brooks click here