Does Restorative Justice affect Re-Conviction? The fourth report from the evaluation of three schemes.
This is the fourth report on the evaluation of three restorative justice schemes funded under the Home Office's Crime Reduction Programme from mid-2001.
Earlier reports have examined how the schemes were implemented, participants' expectations and take-up rates and victims' and offenders' views on the process and outcomes. This fourth report focuses on one of the key original aims of the Home Office funding, whether restorative justice reduces reoffending and/or provides value for money.
This is a key piece of work that adds to the evidence base on 'what works' to reduce reoffending.
Published on: 16 June 2008
Restorative Justice: The Views of Victims and Offenders - The third report from the evaluation of three schemes
by Joanna Shapland, Anne Atkinson, Helen Atkinson, Becca Chapman, James Dignan, Marie Howes, Jennifer Johnstone, Gwen Robinson, and Angela Scorsby.
This is the third report from the study of three Restorative Justice (RJ) schemes. The schemes ran RJ services at different points in the criminal justice system and involved a range of offences, predominately with adults. This report explores the views of victims and offenders taking part, of the process.
Published on: 19 June 2007
Findings 274 - Restorative Justice in Practice-Findings from the second phase of the evaluation of three schemes
Restorative justice in practice – findings from the
second phase of the evaluation of three schemes
Implementing Restorative Justice Schemes (Crime Reduction Programme) A report on the first year
Introduction
Provides a record of the processes of development and setting up of three restorative justice schemes funded by the Home Office: CONNECT, Justice Research Consortium, and REMEDI.
Description
This report
- reviews the development of three restorative justice schemes;
- describes the aims and content of the schemes, providing a record of the initiation and implementation stages of the projects;
- provides a definition of restorative justice and explains the locations and operations of each of the schemes;
- outlines the evaluation methods, highlighting key difficulties and developments; and
- identifies three emerging issues from the evaluation: achieving referrals, the relationship between restorative justice and criminal justice, and the dominance of criminal justice.
Background information
In 2001, the Home Office decided to fund three schemes to develop restorative justice under the Crime Reduction Programme. The Programme, which was launched in 1999, is intended to explore in a systematic way the potential of a variety of approaches to reducing crime. One of these is restorative justice. As a first stage, the Home Office commissioned a study of some existing schemes which provided very useful pointers to the development of restorative justice, but which found that existing schemes were often small-scale, struggling to find sufficient referrals, and primarily dealt with younger offenders. The three new, or expanded, schemes were started to look at the potential for restorative justice with adult offenders who have committed a range of offences.
Methodology
This action research evaluation includes:
- working with the schemes to develop databases of cases to ensure basic data is available on all offenders and victims;
- talking to those involved in the schemes from very early on with more formal interviews with scheme personnel and key agencies taking place in summer 2002;
- attending steering group meetings, training sessions and workers’ meetings;
- observing direct meetings between victims and offender and conferences, with 102 JRC conferences having been attended during the period of the report;
- undertaking pre-mediation or pre-conference interviews or using questionnaires for victims and offenders for some schemes; and
- undertaking post-restorative justice and control group interviews with offenders and victims.
Conclusions
Three key issues have emerged from the evaluation of the setting up of the schemes:
- achieving referrals. This has been a difficulty for all three schemes. All of them have found that a number of elements (described in the report) are important in achieving and maintaining case flow;
- the relationship between restorative justice and criminal justice. The schemes have shown that restorative justice within the criminal justice process can work to aid a key criminal justice decision;
- the dominance of criminal justice. It is clear that restorative justice is operating within the criminal justice culture. Consequently all three schemes have needed to negotiate and operate within a framework of procedures, precautions and values developed for criminal justice.
