Evaluation Reports

The articles in this section either summarize evaluation reports or are the reports themselves.

Transforming Attitudes Towards Offending: The Sycamore Tree Project® is an in-prison programme bringing unrelated victims and offenders together for conversations about crime. The programme allows them to reflect together on the consequences of crime and the steps needed to address the harm that has resulted.
Bazemore, Gordon and Choi, Jung Jin and Gilbert, Michael J.. Review of research on victims' experiences in restorative justice: Implications for youth justice.: Despite claims that restorative justice is "victim centered," and deliberately focused on healing harms to victims, some studies report that particular applications of restorative justice may not be fully consistent with its fundamental principles and values. Under such circumstances these programs may focus on outcomes (e.g., rehabilitation of youthful offenders) rather than process, and in doing so, may fail to identify and respond effectively to victims' needs. To take a closer look at this phenomenon, this article examines a sample of published restorative justice studies that highlight 'negative' experiences of victims. Given a number of studies that indicate victims typically have satisfying experiences in restorative justice practices such reports of negative experiences and practices should be viewed as 'outliers.' However, such outliers may provide substantively meaningful insights that inform best practice standard for restorative justice. Implications are drawn for the use of restorative justice practices for youth justice. (Author's abstract)
. Restoration or retribution: An empirical examination of the recidivistic patterns of a group of young offenders from New York City.: This study uses a data set on adolescent offending, originally collected by a team of researchers at the Vera Institute of Justice in New York City, to critically examine the role of incarceration in criminal rehabilitation. A theoretical explanation of recidivism is constructed using four criminological theories: life course theory (Sampson & Laub 1993), differential association theory (Sutherland 1939), deterrence theory, and reintegrative shaming theory (Braithwaite 1989). This thesis uses these theories to investigate societal factors that may contribute to young offenders‘ recidivism (versus successful rehabilitation). It is argued that youths who: (1) come from unconventional family environments, (2) possess deviant peer associations, (3) receive incarceration as punishment, and (4) undergo a stigmatizing shaming process are more likely to recidivate. The combination of these factors is also expected to be intensified during incarceration. An empirical examination of the effects of these factors on recidivism supports the main hypotheses advanced. Although conventional family environments and deviant peer associations are successful in determining first-time offending, results from this study suggest that these are inadequate as predictors of recidivism. Conversely, an extension of Braithwaite‘s (1989) reintegrative shaming concept was found to be a strong predictor of subsequent offending. Medium sentence lengths in prison were associated with increased risk to recidivate. Most importantly, the results gathered some support for restorative justice approaches to criminal rehabilitation. Future considerations for recidivism research are explored. (author's abstract)
Nelson, Tanya. Merrill Middle School Meets Restorative Justice.: Schools are a microcosm of our world. They demonstrate the outcome of our investment, the potential, and its continuous need to adapt to changing times. Walking into an elementary school, middle school, high school, you may actually be able to feel this. Conflict is palpable much of the time. On the surface, Merrill Middle School in Oshkosh, WI, has a lot working against it. Oshkosh is a largely blue collar town and about 50% of Merrill's students are from families at or below poverty level. Many families are unable to stay an entire school year.Relationships are difficult to establish. How has Merrill brought it all together? In 2003, it ended its "honor level" approach to discipline in favor of a restorative justice approach. By creating circles and a core concept of restorative justice, staff and students have joined forces to create better communication when problems occur. (excerpt)
. Restorativeness,procedural justice, and defiance as predictors of reoffending of participants in family group conferences.: Prior research has suggested that family group conferences (FGCs), a particular form of restorative justice, hold promise in reducing reoffending among youths, at least for some types of offenses. Most prior research, however, has simply assessed whether participation in a FGC resulted in reduced rates of reoffending compared with control or comparison groups in court or diversion programs. These prior recidivism studies have largely left unaddressed the characteristics of the FGCs that may produce differences in reoffending. The exceptions are two studies, from New Zealand and Australia, respectively, that relied on variation analyses to assess whether differences in the FGC processes affected future offending. This research builds on these two studies and tests as to whether FGC characteristics derived from reintegrative shaming, procedural justice, and defiance theory account for variations in reoffending. The data have been obtained from a sample of youths (N = 215) who participated in a FGC as part of the Indianapolis Juvenile Restorative Justice Experiment (IJRJE). The findings suggest that the more the FGC appeared to follow principles of restorativeness and procedural fairness and avoided defiance, the less reoffending occurred. Specifically, offense type and conference restorativeness influenced the probability of recidivism at 6 months, whereas offense type and race influenced the probability of recidivism at 24 months.(Author's abstract).
Davis, Robert C.. Brooklyn Mediation Field Test.: Results are presented from a study on the effectiveness of mediation in resolving interpersonal disputes involving criminal acts. Results were consistent with other research which had also found that disputants felt better about their experience in the criminal justice system and about each other after mediation than after the traditional court process. However, the findings also suggest that mediation was no more effective than prosecution in preventing recidivism and that a great many people in felony arrest cases arising from interpersonal disputes prefer not to use mediation as the means of coping with their problems. The value of mediation, then, for the adult felony arrest cases examined lies in increasing participant satisfaction with the adjudication process. Restorative justice is defined as a process whereby all the parties with a stake in a particular offense come together to resolve collectively how to deal with the aftermath of the offense. Using an experimental design, this study sought to determine if mediation was a more effective method of resolving interpersonal disputes involving criminal acts than was prosecution in the courts. The study examined how the mode of disposition affected victim and offender satisfaction with the process, as well as rates of reoffending. The study consisted of 465 felony arrest cases in Kings County, NY. The cases all involved persons who were acquainted, either intimate partners or other immediate family relationships. (abstract courtesy of the National Criminal Justice Reference Service, www.ncjrs.gov)
Wong, Dennis S. W. and Ma, Stephen K. and Wing Lo, T and Ma, Stephen K. and Lok, David P. P. and Wing Lo, T. School Bullying Among Hong Kong Chinese Primary Schoolchildren.: The first comprehensive survey of 7,025 Chinese primary schoolchildren found that 24% of respondents reported that they had sometimes physically bullied another child. When children observed school bullying, 56% said they immediately reported it to their teachers. Another 20% tried to stop the bullying by approaching the bullies. The study also identified factors associated with bullying. These included coming from an adverse psychosocial background and having more contact with violent values through association with deviant peers and exposure to the mass media. On the basis of the research findings, potential methods of bullying intervention are discussed. (author's abstract). Restorative practices are discussed among the interventions.
Zahn, Margaret and Tichavsky, Lisa and Day, Jacob C. and Tichavsky, Lisa and Mihalic, Sharon F. and Day, Jacob C.. Determining WhatWorks for Girls in the Juvenile Justice System. A Summary of Evaluation Evidence.: Despite increasing attention on gender-specific programming for girls involved in the juvenile justice system, not much is known about the effectiveness of gender-specific programs. The authors review the evidence base for the effectiveness of programs for girls in custody or under supervision by examining the evaluation evidence for nine gender-specific programs (which exclusively target girls) and six gender-non-specific programs (which target both girls and boys). Through this process, the authors summarize the evidence of effectiveness available to researchers and practitioners, identify barriers to determining what programs work for adjudicated girls, and make recommendations for building a solid evidence base on what works for adjudicated girls. (author's abstracts). Restorative justice programmes are included among those evaluated.
Stickle, Wendy Povitsky and Gottfredson, Denise and Connell, Nadine M. and Gottfredson, Denise and Wilson, Denise M. and Connell, Nadine M.. An experimental evaluation of teen courts.: Teen Court (TC) is a juvenile diversion program designed to prevent the formal processing of first-time juvenile offenders within the juvenile justice system. TC instead utilizes informal processing and sanctions in order to prevent future offending. Despite its widespread popularity throughout the United States of America, little rigorous research has been conducted on the effectiveness of the TC model for reducing recidivism. Using an experimental design, this study examined the effectiveness of TC in reducing recidivism and improving the attitudes and opinions of juvenile offenders in comparison with a control group of youth who were formally processed. Self-reported delinquency was higher for those youth who participated in TC. TC youth were also found to have significantly lower scores on a scale of belief in conventional rules than had youth who were processed in the Department of Juveniles Services. Implications of these findings are discussed. (author's abstract)
Northey, Wayne. A New Paradigm of Justice: Wayne Northey writes of the Victim Offender Reconciliation Project of the Mennonite Central Committee, Kitchener, Ontario. (abstract)
Paiement, Robert. Peacemaking Circles Pilot Project in St. James Town and Regent Park (Toronto, Canada) Phase Two: January 30, 2005-June 30, 2006. Evaluation Report.: This report provides findings from a process evaluation of the Peacemaking Circles Pilot Project in the St. James Town and Regent Park communities from January 30, 2005 to June 30, 2006. A previous evaluation was completed on the first year of the implementation of the project. The report begins with the historical context of the initiative, an overview and description of Peacemaking Circles, the goals and objectives of the initiative, its structure and the design of the evaluation and a summary of the findings of the evaluation. The remainder of the report focuses upon findings from the evaluation related to both the implementation process and outcomes. (excerpt)
. Restorative Justice’s Impact on Participants’ Psychological and Physical Health.: Research on restorative justice has cited many positive benefits for participants. For example, restorative justice processes are satisfying to both victims and offenders. However, despite references made to positive impacts on participants’ well-being, few studies specifically examine the impact of restorative justice processes on participants’ psychological health and physical health using specific health indicators. This study utilized a quasi-experimental, repeated-measures design to assess changes in psychological and physical health in 92 participants (50 victims and 42 offenders) who experienced a restorative justice process. Results indicated that the majority of participants did experience positive changes from pre-program to post-program. Future research directions and limitations are discussed. (excerpt)
Lavery, Timothy. Family Group Conferences Offer Promise for Juvenile Cases: This report presents the methodology and findings from an evaluation of the juvenile family group conference program operated by a probation department in rural Illinois. In the study reported, almost every participant in one family group conference was interviewed, including the offender's guardian, the victim, a community member, and the arresting juvenile police officer. The participants were uniformly satisfied with all aspects of the conference. The study also focused on whether youth who would formerly not have been processed by the juvenile system have been brought into the system through the conferences ("net widening"). Program staff pointed out that few juvenile cases in the county were dismissed or resolved informally prior to the inception of the conference program, suggesting that there has not been "net widening." Three conferences that involved the reintegrative shaming of the offender were also observed. Case study program staff reported that from May 1999 to May 2001, only 2 of 26 offenders who had participated in a conference had their cases referred back to court. In both cases, the offenders reoffended, but still subsequently completed their conference agreement. Some of the challenges faced by the conference program have been obtaining the cooperation of multiple juvenile justice system agencies and balancing the goal of meeting victim needs with having the desired impact on offenders. These results are consistent with a recent review of prior research that examined family group conferences. Abstract courtesy of National Criminal Justice Reference Service, www.ncjrs.org.
Bradshaw, William and Umbreit, Mark S. Crime Victims Meet Juvenile Offenders: Contributing Factors to Victim Satisfaction With Mediated Dialogue .: Juvenile offender mediation was studied with respect to the relative and combined influences of individual victim characteristics, victimization status, satisfaction with the media, issues in the process of mediation, fairness in the criminal justice system, and emotional reaction to the crime on victim satisfaction with mediation. The research used data from 215 victims referred by the juvenile court to victim-offender mediation program sites in Oakland, Calif., Albuquerque, Minneapolis, and Austin. Three programs were operated by private nonprofit community-based organizations working closely with the juvenile court; the Austin juvenile probation office administered the Austin program. The programs used a humanistic mediation model that had four phases: intake, preparation for the mediator, mediation, and follow-up. Data were collected from the Post-Mediation Victim Interview Schedule. Data were analyzed by means of multiple regression techniques. Eighty-five percent of the cases were referred prior to formal adjudication as a diversion effort; the other 15 percent were referred after formal adjudication. Eighty-nine percent of the cases involved property crimes; the other 11 percent involved violent crimes, mainly minor assaults. Ninety percent of the victims expressed satisfaction with mediation. Satisfaction with the mediator, the fairness of the restitution agreement, and meeting the offender explained 42 percent of the variance in satisfaction with mediation. Results highlighted the importance of the personal encounter and negotiation between victim, offender, and mediator and support restorative justice theory. Abstract courtesy of National Criminal Justice Reference Service, www.ncjrs.org.
Church, Cheyanne and Shouldice, Julie. Evaluation of Conflict Resolution Interventions, Part II: Emerging Practice and Theory: Many evaluation approaches currently in use cannot be adapted for implementation in conflict resolution (CR) environments, where the context is constantly changing and the time frame for results can extend over years or generations. The fear exists that evaluation may expose the fact that conflict resolution might not achieve the results that have popularly been attributed to its work. Despite the challenges, valuable information can be gained through the evaluation process. A CR evaluator can take on different roles, such as operative or consultant, depending on the goal or purpose of the evaluation. There is a spectrum of engagement between the evaluator and the project. The evaluator can be external or internal in the project, or in the middle with a compromise between these extremes. Developing a code of conduct for CR evaluators is one way to address the challenge of doing no harm and examining whether the evaluation itself is ethically responsible. Political motivation can affect the credibility and value of the evaluation's findings. The issue of who owns the evaluation and who determines its distribution can affect the information that is provided through the process. Abstract courtesy of National Criminal Justice Reference Service, www.ncjrs.org.
Marsh, Peter and Crow, Gill. Family Partners: In this paper, Peter Marsh and Gill Crow report on a study that provided a detailed examination of eighty family group conferences (FGC) in England and Wales. These FGCs were carried out in four social services departments in 1995 and 1996. This document covers the FGC model for decision-making in child welfare cases, the conference process, outcomes of the eighty conferences studied, and participants’ views on the use of the FGC model. Marsh and Crow also point toward next steps to be taken to expand and improve the practice of FGCs in child welfare cases and other areas of welfare work.
Skakun, Kim and Pfeifer, Jeffrey. Regina Auto Theft Strategy: Process Evaluation.: In 2001-2002 various governmental agencies began a collaboration to reduce the incidence of young offender auto theft in Regina, Saskatchewan. The objectives are to reduce such theft through the following strategies: strict supervision and control of youth who are at risk of re-offending; a combination of enforcement and rehabilitation; and early intervention and education in crime and its consequences. The Saskatchewan Department of Corrections and Public Safety commissioned the Canadian Institute of Peace, Justice and Security to conduct a process evaluation of the Regina Auto Theft Strategy. In this document, the evaluators report their results of their evaluation in the following areas: an analysis of program foundations to establish original intent, goals, and philosophy; an analysis of the current goals, philosophies, and practices; a comparison of the original program to the current program; and the development and clear articulation of key measures.
Hayes, Hennessey. Youth Justice Conferencing and Re-Offending in Queensland: Community conferencing was introduced in Queensland with proclamation of the amended Juvenile Justice Act 1992. A community conference is a meeting where young offenders, their victims and supporters come together to discuss the offence and what should be done about it. In April 1997 the Queensland Department of Justice initiated a "pilot" conferencing project in two southeast jurisdictions (Logan and Ipswich). From February to May 1998, colleagues and I (Hayes et al. 1998) evaluated the two southeast projects. Results showed that participants (ie., offenders, victims and supporters) were largely satisfied with conferencing processes and felt they had been treated fairly and with respect. In this paper I summarise findings from the first conferencing and re-offending study undertaken in Queensland. The study is grounded on data collected from young offenders conferenced from April 1997 to May 1999 (N=200). The main findings are consistent with results from similar studies in New Zealand and South Australia and show that young persons’ prior offending histories bear heavily on post-conference behaviour. Just over half (51%) of young people conferenced came to their restorative event with prior officially detected offending, and a similar proportion (56%) went on to commit a further offence. While post-conference offending did occur, median annual post-conference offending rates were nominal (one offence per year). Furthermore, in Queensland, the effect of conference features in dissuading further offending behaviour was difficult to discern largely because conferences in the Queensland context are less variable events compared to other jurisdictions. That is, levels of participant satisfaction with conference events and outcomes were very high (mid- to high-90% range) and stable across participant groups; conference size and duration were not related to post-conference outcomes. Author's Abstract.
McCold, Paul. Evaluation of a Restorative Milieu: CSF Buxmont School/Day Treatment Programs 1999-2001. Evaluation Outcome Technical Report: The Community Service Foundation (CSF) and Buxton Academy operate six school/day treatment programs in southeastern Pennsylvania. They are community treatment settings for adjudicated delinquent and at-risk youth. CSF also operates other programs for youth in trouble. All of the programs use restorative practices. McCold speaks of a "restorative milieu" because the CSF Buxmont culture consists of many restorative techniques and processes, not just isolated restorative interventions, and because the restorative approach extends beyond staff interaction with youth to staff-to-staff and student-to-student relationships. In this paper McCold presents results of an evaluation of the CSF Buxmont school/day treatment programs to assess the effectiveness of their restorative practices in encouraging positive changes among youth in the programs. The analysis covers the outcome experiences of more than 900 youth discharged from the programs over a two year period between 1999 and 2001.
Coates, Robert B and Vos, Betty and Umbreit, Mark S and Coates, Robert B. The Impact of Restorative Justice Conferencing: A Review of 63 Empirical Studies in 5 Countries: Seeking to evaluate the impact of restorative justice conferencing, the authors begin with a discussion of conceptual elements and common practices of restorative justice and community justice. They note fluidity in both concepts and practices. Among restorative and community justice theorists and practitioners, there are variations of emphasis and changes in conception and practice over time. All of this is true with respect to restorative justice conferencing, the focus in this paper and a broad term to indicate three well-known modes of conferencing (victim-offender mediation, family group conferencing, and peacemaking circles). With all of this in mind, the authors review 63 empirical studies of restorative justice conferencing from 5 countries. They assess data from those studies with respect to client satisfaction, fairness, restitution, diversion, recidivism, and cost.

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Navigation RJ Office Kinds of Programmes Practice Issues Programme Administration and Funding Programme Policy Manuals Building Support For Restorative Justice Training Evaluation Evaluation Reports Evaluation Tools Real People, Real Stories Programme Examples Kinds of Crimes Accreditation Staying Restorative	Info Evaluation Reports The articles in this section either summarize evaluation reports or are the reports themselves. Conferencing \| Circles \| Mediation \| Other Transforming Attitudes Towards Offending The Sycamore Tree Project® is an in-prison programme bringing unrelated victims and offenders together for conversations about crime. The programme allows them to reflect together on the consequences of crime and the steps needed to address the harm that has resulted. Bazemore, Gordon and Choi, Jung Jin and Gilbert, Michael J.. Review of research on victims' experiences in restorative justice: Implications for youth justice. Despite claims that restorative justice is "victim centered," and deliberately focused on healing harms to victims, some studies report that particular applications of restorative justice may not be fully consistent with its fundamental principles and values. Under such circumstances these programs may focus on outcomes (e.g., rehabilitation of youthful offenders) rather than process, and in doing so, may fail to identify and respond effectively to victims' needs. To take a closer look at this phenomenon, this article examines a sample of published restorative justice studies that highlight 'negative' experiences of victims. Given a number of studies that indicate victims typically have satisfying experiences in restorative justice practices such reports of negative experiences and practices should be viewed as 'outliers.' However, such outliers may provide substantively meaningful insights that inform best practice standard for restorative justice. Implications are drawn for the use of restorative justice practices for youth justice. (Author's abstract) . Restoration or retribution: An empirical examination of the recidivistic patterns of a group of young offenders from New York City. This study uses a data set on adolescent offending, originally collected by a team of researchers at the Vera Institute of Justice in New York City, to critically examine the role of incarceration in criminal rehabilitation. A theoretical explanation of recidivism is constructed using four criminological theories: life course theory (Sampson & Laub 1993), differential association theory (Sutherland 1939), deterrence theory, and reintegrative shaming theory (Braithwaite 1989). This thesis uses these theories to investigate societal factors that may contribute to young offenders‘ recidivism (versus successful rehabilitation). It is argued that youths who: (1) come from unconventional family environments, (2) possess deviant peer associations, (3) receive incarceration as punishment, and (4) undergo a stigmatizing shaming process are more likely to recidivate. The combination of these factors is also expected to be intensified during incarceration. An empirical examination of the effects of these factors on recidivism supports the main hypotheses advanced. Although conventional family environments and deviant peer associations are successful in determining first-time offending, results from this study suggest that these are inadequate as predictors of recidivism. Conversely, an extension of Braithwaite‘s (1989) reintegrative shaming concept was found to be a strong predictor of subsequent offending. Medium sentence lengths in prison were associated with increased risk to recidivate. Most importantly, the results gathered some support for restorative justice approaches to criminal rehabilitation. Future considerations for recidivism research are explored. (author's abstract) Nelson, Tanya. Merrill Middle School Meets Restorative Justice. Schools are a microcosm of our world. They demonstrate the outcome of our investment, the potential, and its continuous need to adapt to changing times. Walking into an elementary school, middle school, high school, you may actually be able to feel this. Conflict is palpable much of the time. On the surface, Merrill Middle School in Oshkosh, WI, has a lot working against it. Oshkosh is a largely blue collar town and about 50% of Merrill's students are from families at or below poverty level. Many families are unable to stay an entire school year.Relationships are difficult to establish. How has Merrill brought it all together? In 2003, it ended its "honor level" approach to discipline in favor of a restorative justice approach. By creating circles and a core concept of restorative justice, staff and students have joined forces to create better communication when problems occur. (excerpt) . Restorativeness,procedural justice, and defiance as predictors of reoffending of participants in family group conferences. Prior research has suggested that family group conferences (FGCs), a particular form of restorative justice, hold promise in reducing reoffending among youths, at least for some types of offenses. Most prior research, however, has simply assessed whether participation in a FGC resulted in reduced rates of reoffending compared with control or comparison groups in court or diversion programs. These prior recidivism studies have largely left unaddressed the characteristics of the FGCs that may produce differences in reoffending. The exceptions are two studies, from New Zealand and Australia, respectively, that relied on variation analyses to assess whether differences in the FGC processes affected future offending. This research builds on these two studies and tests as to whether FGC characteristics derived from reintegrative shaming, procedural justice, and defiance theory account for variations in reoffending. The data have been obtained from a sample of youths (N = 215) who participated in a FGC as part of the Indianapolis Juvenile Restorative Justice Experiment (IJRJE). The findings suggest that the more the FGC appeared to follow principles of restorativeness and procedural fairness and avoided defiance, the less reoffending occurred. Specifically, offense type and conference restorativeness influenced the probability of recidivism at 6 months, whereas offense type and race influenced the probability of recidivism at 24 months.(Author's abstract). Davis, Robert C.. Brooklyn Mediation Field Test. Results are presented from a study on the effectiveness of mediation in resolving interpersonal disputes involving criminal acts. Results were consistent with other research which had also found that disputants felt better about their experience in the criminal justice system and about each other after mediation than after the traditional court process. However, the findings also suggest that mediation was no more effective than prosecution in preventing recidivism and that a great many people in felony arrest cases arising from interpersonal disputes prefer not to use mediation as the means of coping with their problems. The value of mediation, then, for the adult felony arrest cases examined lies in increasing participant satisfaction with the adjudication process. Restorative justice is defined as a process whereby all the parties with a stake in a particular offense come together to resolve collectively how to deal with the aftermath of the offense. Using an experimental design, this study sought to determine if mediation was a more effective method of resolving interpersonal disputes involving criminal acts than was prosecution in the courts. The study examined how the mode of disposition affected victim and offender satisfaction with the process, as well as rates of reoffending. The study consisted of 465 felony arrest cases in Kings County, NY. The cases all involved persons who were acquainted, either intimate partners or other immediate family relationships. (abstract courtesy of the National Criminal Justice Reference Service, www.ncjrs.gov) Wong, Dennis S. W. and Ma, Stephen K. and Wing Lo, T and Ma, Stephen K. and Lok, David P. P. and Wing Lo, T. School Bullying Among Hong Kong Chinese Primary Schoolchildren. The first comprehensive survey of 7,025 Chinese primary schoolchildren found that 24% of respondents reported that they had sometimes physically bullied another child. When children observed school bullying, 56% said they immediately reported it to their teachers. Another 20% tried to stop the bullying by approaching the bullies. The study also identified factors associated with bullying. These included coming from an adverse psychosocial background and having more contact with violent values through association with deviant peers and exposure to the mass media. On the basis of the research findings, potential methods of bullying intervention are discussed. (author's abstract). Restorative practices are discussed among the interventions. Zahn, Margaret and Tichavsky, Lisa and Day, Jacob C. and Tichavsky, Lisa and Mihalic, Sharon F. and Day, Jacob C.. Determining WhatWorks for Girls in the Juvenile Justice System. A Summary of Evaluation Evidence. Despite increasing attention on gender-specific programming for girls involved in the juvenile justice system, not much is known about the effectiveness of gender-specific programs. The authors review the evidence base for the effectiveness of programs for girls in custody or under supervision by examining the evaluation evidence for nine gender-specific programs (which exclusively target girls) and six gender-non-specific programs (which target both girls and boys). Through this process, the authors summarize the evidence of effectiveness available to researchers and practitioners, identify barriers to determining what programs work for adjudicated girls, and make recommendations for building a solid evidence base on what works for adjudicated girls. (author's abstracts). Restorative justice programmes are included among those evaluated. Stickle, Wendy Povitsky and Gottfredson, Denise and Connell, Nadine M. and Gottfredson, Denise and Wilson, Denise M. and Connell, Nadine M.. An experimental evaluation of teen courts. Teen Court (TC) is a juvenile diversion program designed to prevent the formal processing of first-time juvenile offenders within the juvenile justice system. TC instead utilizes informal processing and sanctions in order to prevent future offending. Despite its widespread popularity throughout the United States of America, little rigorous research has been conducted on the effectiveness of the TC model for reducing recidivism. Using an experimental design, this study examined the effectiveness of TC in reducing recidivism and improving the attitudes and opinions of juvenile offenders in comparison with a control group of youth who were formally processed. Self-reported delinquency was higher for those youth who participated in TC. TC youth were also found to have significantly lower scores on a scale of belief in conventional rules than had youth who were processed in the Department of Juveniles Services. Implications of these findings are discussed. (author's abstract) Northey, Wayne. A New Paradigm of Justice Wayne Northey writes of the Victim Offender Reconciliation Project of the Mennonite Central Committee, Kitchener, Ontario. (abstract) Paiement, Robert. Peacemaking Circles Pilot Project in St. James Town and Regent Park (Toronto, Canada) Phase Two: January 30, 2005-June 30, 2006. Evaluation Report. This report provides findings from a process evaluation of the Peacemaking Circles Pilot Project in the St. James Town and Regent Park communities from January 30, 2005 to June 30, 2006. A previous evaluation was completed on the first year of the implementation of the project. The report begins with the historical context of the initiative, an overview and description of Peacemaking Circles, the goals and objectives of the initiative, its structure and the design of the evaluation and a summary of the findings of the evaluation. The remainder of the report focuses upon findings from the evaluation related to both the implementation process and outcomes. (excerpt) . Restorative Justice’s Impact on Participants’ Psychological and Physical Health. Research on restorative justice has cited many positive benefits for participants. For example, restorative justice processes are satisfying to both victims and offenders. However, despite references made to positive impacts on participants’ well-being, few studies specifically examine the impact of restorative justice processes on participants’ psychological health and physical health using specific health indicators. This study utilized a quasi-experimental, repeated-measures design to assess changes in psychological and physical health in 92 participants (50 victims and 42 offenders) who experienced a restorative justice process. Results indicated that the majority of participants did experience positive changes from pre-program to post-program. Future research directions and limitations are discussed. (excerpt) Lavery, Timothy. Family Group Conferences Offer Promise for Juvenile Cases This report presents the methodology and findings from an evaluation of the juvenile family group conference program operated by a probation department in rural Illinois. In the study reported, almost every participant in one family group conference was interviewed, including the offender's guardian, the victim, a community member, and the arresting juvenile police officer. The participants were uniformly satisfied with all aspects of the conference. The study also focused on whether youth who would formerly not have been processed by the juvenile system have been brought into the system through the conferences ("net widening"). Program staff pointed out that few juvenile cases in the county were dismissed or resolved informally prior to the inception of the conference program, suggesting that there has not been "net widening." Three conferences that involved the reintegrative shaming of the offender were also observed. Case study program staff reported that from May 1999 to May 2001, only 2 of 26 offenders who had participated in a conference had their cases referred back to court. In both cases, the offenders reoffended, but still subsequently completed their conference agreement. Some of the challenges faced by the conference program have been obtaining the cooperation of multiple juvenile justice system agencies and balancing the goal of meeting victim needs with having the desired impact on offenders. These results are consistent with a recent review of prior research that examined family group conferences. Abstract courtesy of National Criminal Justice Reference Service, www.ncjrs.org. Bradshaw, William and Umbreit, Mark S. Crime Victims Meet Juvenile Offenders: Contributing Factors to Victim Satisfaction With Mediated Dialogue . Juvenile offender mediation was studied with respect to the relative and combined influences of individual victim characteristics, victimization status, satisfaction with the media, issues in the process of mediation, fairness in the criminal justice system, and emotional reaction to the crime on victim satisfaction with mediation. The research used data from 215 victims referred by the juvenile court to victim-offender mediation program sites in Oakland, Calif., Albuquerque, Minneapolis, and Austin. Three programs were operated by private nonprofit community-based organizations working closely with the juvenile court; the Austin juvenile probation office administered the Austin program. The programs used a humanistic mediation model that had four phases: intake, preparation for the mediator, mediation, and follow-up. Data were collected from the Post-Mediation Victim Interview Schedule. Data were analyzed by means of multiple regression techniques. Eighty-five percent of the cases were referred prior to formal adjudication as a diversion effort; the other 15 percent were referred after formal adjudication. Eighty-nine percent of the cases involved property crimes; the other 11 percent involved violent crimes, mainly minor assaults. Ninety percent of the victims expressed satisfaction with mediation. Satisfaction with the mediator, the fairness of the restitution agreement, and meeting the offender explained 42 percent of the variance in satisfaction with mediation. Results highlighted the importance of the personal encounter and negotiation between victim, offender, and mediator and support restorative justice theory. Abstract courtesy of National Criminal Justice Reference Service, www.ncjrs.org. Church, Cheyanne and Shouldice, Julie. Evaluation of Conflict Resolution Interventions, Part II: Emerging Practice and Theory Many evaluation approaches currently in use cannot be adapted for implementation in conflict resolution (CR) environments, where the context is constantly changing and the time frame for results can extend over years or generations. The fear exists that evaluation may expose the fact that conflict resolution might not achieve the results that have popularly been attributed to its work. Despite the challenges, valuable information can be gained through the evaluation process. A CR evaluator can take on different roles, such as operative or consultant, depending on the goal or purpose of the evaluation. There is a spectrum of engagement between the evaluator and the project. The evaluator can be external or internal in the project, or in the middle with a compromise between these extremes. Developing a code of conduct for CR evaluators is one way to address the challenge of doing no harm and examining whether the evaluation itself is ethically responsible. Political motivation can affect the credibility and value of the evaluation's findings. The issue of who owns the evaluation and who determines its distribution can affect the information that is provided through the process. Abstract courtesy of National Criminal Justice Reference Service, www.ncjrs.org. Marsh, Peter and Crow, Gill. Family Partners In this paper, Peter Marsh and Gill Crow report on a study that provided a detailed examination of eighty family group conferences (FGC) in England and Wales. These FGCs were carried out in four social services departments in 1995 and 1996. This document covers the FGC model for decision-making in child welfare cases, the conference process, outcomes of the eighty conferences studied, and participants’ views on the use of the FGC model. Marsh and Crow also point toward next steps to be taken to expand and improve the practice of FGCs in child welfare cases and other areas of welfare work. Skakun, Kim and Pfeifer, Jeffrey. Regina Auto Theft Strategy: Process Evaluation. In 2001-2002 various governmental agencies began a collaboration to reduce the incidence of young offender auto theft in Regina, Saskatchewan. The objectives are to reduce such theft through the following strategies: strict supervision and control of youth who are at risk of re-offending; a combination of enforcement and rehabilitation; and early intervention and education in crime and its consequences. The Saskatchewan Department of Corrections and Public Safety commissioned the Canadian Institute of Peace, Justice and Security to conduct a process evaluation of the Regina Auto Theft Strategy. In this document, the evaluators report their results of their evaluation in the following areas: an analysis of program foundations to establish original intent, goals, and philosophy; an analysis of the current goals, philosophies, and practices; a comparison of the original program to the current program; and the development and clear articulation of key measures. Hayes, Hennessey. Youth Justice Conferencing and Re-Offending in Queensland Community conferencing was introduced in Queensland with proclamation of the amended Juvenile Justice Act 1992. A community conference is a meeting where young offenders, their victims and supporters come together to discuss the offence and what should be done about it. In April 1997 the Queensland Department of Justice initiated a "pilot" conferencing project in two southeast jurisdictions (Logan and Ipswich). From February to May 1998, colleagues and I (Hayes et al. 1998) evaluated the two southeast projects. Results showed that participants (ie., offenders, victims and supporters) were largely satisfied with conferencing processes and felt they had been treated fairly and with respect. In this paper I summarise findings from the first conferencing and re-offending study undertaken in Queensland. The study is grounded on data collected from young offenders conferenced from April 1997 to May 1999 (N=200). The main findings are consistent with results from similar studies in New Zealand and South Australia and show that young persons’ prior offending histories bear heavily on post-conference behaviour. Just over half (51%) of young people conferenced came to their restorative event with prior officially detected offending, and a similar proportion (56%) went on to commit a further offence. While post-conference offending did occur, median annual post-conference offending rates were nominal (one offence per year). Furthermore, in Queensland, the effect of conference features in dissuading further offending behaviour was difficult to discern largely because conferences in the Queensland context are less variable events compared to other jurisdictions. That is, levels of participant satisfaction with conference events and outcomes were very high (mid- to high-90% range) and stable across participant groups; conference size and duration were not related to post-conference outcomes. Author's Abstract. McCold, Paul. Evaluation of a Restorative Milieu: CSF Buxmont School/Day Treatment Programs 1999-2001. Evaluation Outcome Technical Report The Community Service Foundation (CSF) and Buxton Academy operate six school/day treatment programs in southeastern Pennsylvania. They are community treatment settings for adjudicated delinquent and at-risk youth. CSF also operates other programs for youth in trouble. All of the programs use restorative practices. McCold speaks of a "restorative milieu" because the CSF Buxmont culture consists of many restorative techniques and processes, not just isolated restorative interventions, and because the restorative approach extends beyond staff interaction with youth to staff-to-staff and student-to-student relationships. In this paper McCold presents results of an evaluation of the CSF Buxmont school/day treatment programs to assess the effectiveness of their restorative practices in encouraging positive changes among youth in the programs. The analysis covers the outcome experiences of more than 900 youth discharged from the programs over a two year period between 1999 and 2001. Coates, Robert B and Vos, Betty and Umbreit, Mark S and Coates, Robert B. The Impact of Restorative Justice Conferencing: A Review of 63 Empirical Studies in 5 Countries Seeking to evaluate the impact of restorative justice conferencing, the authors begin with a discussion of conceptual elements and common practices of restorative justice and community justice. They note fluidity in both concepts and practices. Among restorative and community justice theorists and practitioners, there are variations of emphasis and changes in conception and practice over time. All of this is true with respect to restorative justice conferencing, the focus in this paper and a broad term to indicate three well-known modes of conferencing (victim-offender mediation, family group conferencing, and peacemaking circles). With all of this in mind, the authors review 63 empirical studies of restorative justice conferencing from 5 countries. They assess data from those studies with respect to client satisfaction, fairness, restitution, diversion, recidivism, and cost. 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