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Restorative Justice

Psychology: AQA A Level, topic 16.1.17

Restorative Justice

Historically prison has been about administering punishment as a form of justice. The modern approach of restorative justice differs in the fact criminals are to make amends for their crimes.

Awareness

Awareness

  • Restorative justice is based in the principles that criminals should be held accountable and responsible for their actions.
  • The criminals should be made aware of the damage they have caused - whether physical, emotional, or property damage.
  • There are four criteria for restorative justice to be done properly.
Four criteria

Four criteria

  1. It can be used for antisocial behaviour like vandalism or petty theft, or more serious offences like assault.
  2. The victim can choose this form, but they must volunteer. The offender must admit responsibility to their crime.
Four criteria cont.

Four criteria cont.

  1. There are various methods to ensure justice has been met: the victim can either meet the offender face-to-face or it can be done via letter.
  2. Finally, the offender usually has to make some sort of reparations to remove or undo the damage that they have inflicted.
  • For example, a vandal would remove their graffiti
Advantages

Advantages

  • There are several advantages to the restorative justice programme.
  • The Smith Institute conducted a study that summarised the following advantages (Smith Report 2007):
    • Restorative justice has been seen to benefit both the victim and offender.
    • The victims are less likely to experience post-traumatic stress and were less likely to want revenge on their offender.
Smith Report (2007) cont.

Smith Report (2007) cont.

  • The victims were more satisfied than the traditional approach.
  • The offender tended to be more satisfied as well.
  • There were decreased costs compared to the traditional justice method.
Drawbacks

Drawbacks

  • There are several drawbacks to the system:
    • People are reluctant to use the restorative justice system.
    • People are also unaware or misunderstand the programme.
    • The Ministry of Justice in 2012 found that people simply did not know about the programme.

Test yourself on Restorative Justice

  • How has the justice system changed in recent times?

  • Which is NOT a principle of restorative justice?

  • What is NOT a fundamental of restorative justice?

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