Effects of victim presence and coercion in restorative justice: An experimental paradigm.

Abstract

There is little experimental work examining the ways in which particular procedural features of restorative justice impact offenders. This research describes a new experimental paradigm designed to advance knowledge about causal relationships in restorative justice settings. Apologizing is a core component of restorative procedures, and can result in beneficial outcomes, but previous research suggests that coercion to apologize and the absence of victims in restorative procedures may negatively impact these outcomes. The experimental procedure elicited confessions and apologies for a transgression from participants (N = 101) in a deceptive paradigm. We manipulated coercion (coerced, not coerced) and victim presence (direct, surrogate, ambiguous) to test their effects on offenders' subjective experiences of offering an apology, as well as their effects on the quality of offenders' apologies. Findings indicated that the victim presence and coercion manipulations significantly impacted some of the subjective perceptions of apologizers, including perceptions of accountability and transgression finality. In addition, independent raters evaluated the degree to which the transgressor's apologies conveyed remorse, acceptance of guilt, and potential for dispute resolution. Victim presence and coercion consistently affected the ability of transgressors to convey high quality apologies. Implications for future research and restorative procedures are discussed.

Examining the Effectiveness of Restorative Justice in Reducing Victims’ Post-Traumatic Stress

“…Currently, resources are limited and motivating victims to attend conferences can be problematic due to lack of understanding of the process (Restorative Justice Council 2017). The presence of victims in restorative conferences has been demonstrated to increase the remorse of offenders, which has been implicated in reducing rates of recidivism (Saulnier and Sivasubramaniam 2015). Therefore, victim involvement in VOCs has additional benefits for both participants and communities that are affected by repeat offending.…”

Long-Term Effectiveness of a Brief Restorative Justice Intervention

“…Another primary assumption of RJIs is that greater understanding and empathy developed by offenders will produce emotional and behavioral changes that lead to the lower likelihood of reoffending. Consistent with this assumption, RJIs sometimes include a component intended to increase the offender’s understanding of the victim’s experience of the crime (i.e., increased empathy, guilt, or shame; Calhoun & Pelech, 2010; Forgays & DeMilio, 2005; Jackson & Bonacker, 2006; Latimer, Dowden, & Muise, 2005; Martinez, Stuewig, & Tangney, 2014; Rodogno, 2008; Rossner, 2012; Saulnier & Sivasubramaniam, 2015; Sherman et al, 2005; Van Stokkom, 2002). One of the ways RJIs attempt to build offender empathy is through a variety of perspective taking activities (e.g., Victim Impact Statements [VISs]; Jackson & Bonacker, 2006).…”

Procedural Justice Concerns and Technologically Mediated Interactions with Legal Authorities

“…Experimental work has rarely been used to explore public evaluations of legal authorities' use of surveillance technologies, but the approach is critical to identifying causal relationships-directly testing the effects of manipulated factors on participants' perceptions. Laboratory designs are especially important to underdeveloped areas of research as they allow for the precise isolation, control, and manipulation of aspects of a procedure (Saulnier and Sivasubramaniam 2015). Identifying these causal relationships is essential to understanding public perceptions of the increasingly technologically mediated nature of public interactions with legal authorities and advocating for data collection strategies that are acceptable and satisfying to the public that they are intended to serve.…”