Restorative Justice
From PsychWiki - A Collaborative Psychology Wiki
There is a wonderful Wikipedia entry on Restorative Justice at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restorative_justice. It is hoped that research on restorative justice from a psychological perspective will be contributed to this page.
Wikipedia definition
Restorative justice is a theory of criminal justice that focuses on crime as an act against another individual or community rather than the state. The victim plays a major role in the process and receives some type of restitution from the offender.
Restorative justice takes many different forms, but all systems have some aspects in common. Victims have an opportunity to express the full impact of the crime upon their lives, to receive answers to any lingering questions about the incident, and to participate in holding the offender accountable for his or her actions. Offenders can tell their story of why the crime occurred and how it has affected their lives. They are given an opportunity to make things right with the victim—to the degree possible—through some form of compensation.
Emotional effects on Victims of Restorative Justice Conferences
In a study of crimes in 4 different areas (3 in the UK and 1 in Australia) where crimes were randomly placed in a restorative justice or control category, (Strand, Sherman, Angel, Woods, Bennett, Newbury-Birch, Inkpen 2006) restorative justice conferences were found to reduce a victim's fear of the offender, reduce anger of the victim towards the offender, reduce anxiety about "why me?", and increase victim sympathy for the offender.
Restorative Justice Resources
http://www.restorativejustice.org - The purpose of Restorative Justice Online is to be an authoritative, credible, non-partisan source of information on restorative justice.
