Situating restorative justice within criminal justice

Abstract

Drawing from the evaluation of three major restorative justice schemes in England and Wales, the article considers the theoretical implications for process and outcomes of situating restorative justice for adults within criminal justice, including the allocation of roles, the balance of power, the importance of procedural justice, and the tasks of restorative justice (such as apology, rehabilitation, reparation, healing, restoration, and reintegration and its relation with social capital). Given that restorative justice events are by definition unique, because of their participative nature, the ability to make generalizations across cultures is problematic, stemming from whether participants bring normative assumptions about justice to the event.

Responding to young people responsible for harm: a comparative study of restorative and conventional approaches

“…Wright (2002) claimed, for example, that "victims need the truth to be acknowledged" (p. 655), an argument consistent with the results of Herman's (2005) qualitative study of victims of sexual abuse. Shapland et al (2006), who studied almost 300 restorative conferences with adult offenders, note that the likelihood of conference breakdown and dissatisfaction among victims increased if an offender even partially denied responsibility for the harm. Based on the results of their interviews with 59 victims, Wemmers and Cyr (2005) theorize that victims may experience re-traumatization through a restorative justice process if the offender denies responsibility for the event.…”

“…Once developed, the restoration agreement is then considered, and often adjusted, by the victim (and supporters). In the spirit of restorative practices generally (Shapland et al, 2006), the Calgary program tailors its procedures to fit specific offender and victim circumstances. Indeed, school-referred situations often have no identified offender or victim and instead involve a mutually hostile engagement among a group of young people that has erupted into a crisis event resulting in a referral to conferencing by a school authority.…”

La justice réparatrice et les crimes graves

“…Les études évaluatives de la pratique répa-ratrice indiquent clairement que les interventions réparatrices sont, en tant que complément à la procédure judiciaire traditionnelle, fortement appréciées par les victimes participantes (Wemmers et Canuto, 2002 ;Shapland et al, 2006). De plus, selon les recherches comparatives, le modèle réparateur semble plus apte à répondre aux attentes des victimes de tous types d'infraction, y compris des crimes graves, que les procé-dures pénales (Braithwaite, 1999 ;Poulson, 2003 ;Latimer et al, 2005 ;Strang et al, 2006 ;Shapland et al, 2007).…”

“…L'absence d'une défi nition consensuelle complique l'évaluation des projets répa-rateurs. Le modèle réparateur risque aussi de perdre sa particularité et de devenir un concept trop étendu, couvrant une multitude d'interventions qui ne correspondent pas toutes nécessairement à l'esprit de l'approche réparatrice (Zehr et Mika, 1998 ;Roche, 2006 ;Shapland et al, 2006 ;Jaccoud, 2007 ;Woolford et Ratner, 2010).…”

A Framework for a Restorative Society? Restorative Justice in Northern Ireland

“…Three groups used indirect, or 'shuttle negotiation' which involves going back and forth between parties to ascertain information and make requests (Shapland et al, 2006). This can overcome dangers or difficulties in bringing the parties together.…”