Evaluation Reports

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

• Conferencing |
• Circles |
• Mediation |
• Other

United Nations. Republic of South Africa: Tenth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders

The report explains that poverty is closely linked to racism, sexism, and crime. As part of the transformation of government and policy, a new coordinated approach has been undertaken in South Africa among the Department of Correctional Services, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, the South African Police Service, the Department of Welfare, and the Department of Home Affairs. The coordinated approach among criminal justice agencies is meant to transform the system into a democratic police force. The government’s new policy on crime prevention is entitled the National Crime Prevention Strategy, and it recognizes that the existing, disjointed criminal justice system is unable to address the current level of crime in South Africa. Thus, certain measures were undertaken to assure the future effectiveness of the justice system. These measures include integrating the various agencies, creating the Office of the National Director of Public Prosecutions, and instituting specialized courts. Some of the strategic measures recently undertaken to address the soaring crime rates have been the re-organization of the justice system, a focus on changing the public values, and working on crime prevention through the use of environmental design. This report also discusses the new focus on crime as a transnational issue and the challenges presented by the blurring of borders in criminal activities. Another focus of the report is on the justice process itself, with issues of accountability and fairness coming forefront. The new program in restorative justice is explained, as are new initiatives designed to empower victims and assure fairness of treatment to offenders. Abstract courtesy of National Criminal Justice Reference Service, www.ncjrs.org.

Canadian Criminal Justice Association. Justice Report

The discussion of conditional sentencing notes that areas needing further discussion include public attitudes, whether a conditional sentence adequately conveys denunciation of an offender, potential conflicts with the purposes and principles of sentencing, reductions in the use of incarceration, and outcomes. The symposium on restorative justice included exhibits on 28 programs in Canada and other countries that try to implement restorative justice values and principle and heard presentations by an offender and victims' families. The parole board member presents case examples and concludes that parole is the best way to ensure public protection through the gradual reintegration of offenders at the most appropriate time in their sentence. The Correctional Service of Canada's Deputy Commissioner for Women discusses recent change in corrections management and programming for women's corrections. The inmate concludes that offender rehabilitation is often impeded by repression and that correctional staff need to support inmates in the essential process leading to their reintegration. The summary of the murder case involving battered women syndrome reports that the appellate court majority upheld the woman's conviction.

Virginia State Crime Commission. Restorative Justice in Virginia

The Commission defines "restorative justice" as "the integration of punishment, mediation, and victim-offender reconciliation through a structured system of sanctions and services which emphasize accountability, community protection, and competency development." The Commission found that most of the principles of this conceptual model are currently in place in Virginia. The recent passage of the Comprehensive Community Corrections Act, the Pretrial Services Act, and authorization for Victim-Offender Reconciliation Programs ensures that the elements of restorative justice are intrinsic to the provisions of community-based corrections in Virginia. The role of the victim in the criminal justice system has been elevated through victim rights legislation and a pending constitutional amendment. Victim assistance has been enhanced through expansion of victim-witness programs throughout the State. The Commission recommends that the Supreme Court include training on the use of restitution or day fines in judicial training to ensure that this sanction is used consistently in cases where it is warranted. It also recommends that the Department of Criminal Justice Services conduct a study of the collection of restitution and develop recommendations for a uniform mechanism to be used statewide. Another recommendation is that localities consider broadening the community criminal justice board representation through inclusion of representatives from public health, higher education, business, crime victims, ex-offenders, and other interests that enhance the community perspective. Finally, the Commission recommends that the Department of Criminal Justice Services develop a victim-offender protocol to be a guideline for local crime victim and witness assistance programs. Appended Senate Joint Resolution No. 9. Abstract courtesy of National Criminal Justice Reference Service, www.ncjrs.org.

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.

Choi, Jung Jin and Gilbert, Michael J. and Bazemore, Gordon. 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)

Léger, André. 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)

Editor. Restorative Justice with adult offenders, post-sentence is safe, reduces re-offending, cost less, saves money and delivers better outcomes

A summation of Joanna Shapland's fourth and final report about conclusions drawn from seven restorative justice projects established in the UK.

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)

Gruenewald, Jeff and Hipple, Natalie Kroovand and McGarrell, Edmund F. 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).

Smith, Nadine and Weatherburn, Don. Youth justice conferences versus Children's Court: A comparison of re-offending.

After adjusting for other factors in the intention-to-treat analyses, no significant differences were found between conference and court participants in the proportion re-offending, the seriousness of their re-offending, the time to the first proven re-offence or the number of proven re-offences. Non-significant results were obtained regardless of whether the definition of re-offending included or excluded justice procedures offences. In the as-treated analyses, the results were similar. (excerpt)

Gjoka, Rasim. Media Support to the Development of Restorative Justice in Albania

Media is the basic tool and the crucial means of a direct communication with the world. Every media, be it written or electronic has its own organized strategy to transmit the news, the other’s culture, believes, ideas and so on and so forth. Getting access to the proper media is quite a challenge, but gaining its support is such an achievement. In this presentation I will bring the modest experience of AFCR for the promotion of Restorative Justice (RJ) and Mediation Program in Albanian Society. My main focus will direct its attention toward the cooperation with the written and electronic media. Throughout this paper I will try to reveal this cooperation within two perspectives: Firstly: I will describe the narrative aspect of the nature of activities that AFCR has used to introduce and promote through media the Victim-Offender Mediation and Restorative Justice Program for the wide public and the intended institutions, which deal with the Penal and Restorative Justice. Secondly: I will tackle the problems, and opportunities faced in our work, especially to sensibilize the consciousness of media actors and other social factors to attract their attention to understand and help us in introducing and applying restorative justice and mediation alternative programs. In the end I will lay the ground for some considerations, claiming that even in the most positive experience it is always some room for improvement. (excerpt)

Praskova, Marketa Krillova and Hruskova, Jitka and Stantejski, Ondrej. A new plan of the Czech Probation and Mediation Service (PMS) to improve and strengthen the delivery of RJ programmes

Representatives of the Czech Probation and Mediation Service presented on the "Actual situation in delivering and providing of restorative justice programs in the frame of the Czech justice and a new plan of PMS how to improve and strengthen delivering of RJ programs." A part of the presentation was description of a new concept on how to develop RJ programs into effective structures in the framework of judicial bodies in cooperation with nongovernmental bodies (concept of a new certification system for NGOs in order to develop new RJ programs – VOM, FGC, probation panels, programs for victims). Currently running projects ("Mentor" and "Specialized Comprehensive Counselling for the Victims of Crime") that are run by PMS in cooperation with NGOs and which are trying to implement RJ principles into practice were also introduced. (excerpt)

Kirkwood, Steve. Restorative Justice as Diversion from Prosecution: Evidence Informing Practice

A report on the results of Scotland's volunteer organization SACRO, which offers restorative justice services, including victim-offender dialogue as, a form of pre-trial diversion.

Hyare,Mina and Dugmore, Paul and Shemmings, David and Mutter, Robin. Family group conferences in youth justice.

This paper discusses part of an evaluation of the ‘Family Group Conference (FGC) Project for Young People Who Offend’ within a large social services department (‘Exshire’). The evaluation covers all 30 family group conferences during a 15-month period from September 2000 to December 2001. This article presents the findings relating to young people along with changes in their psychosocial profile using a modified version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ; Goodman 1997). The views of all participants were positive, with the majority saying they would recommend FGCs to others. FGC was felt by most participants to have brought about changes in the way young people view the world, partly by helping them to accept the reality of offending in a way that had not previously been possible. It provided victims with a unique opportunity to become involved in the youth justice system, recognising them as key stakeholders as a result of a crime. This process left most victims with a sense of satisfaction and resolution. Average SDQ scores were lower following FGC for the 12 young people who responded to follow-up interviews. Although there are a number of restorative justice projects using FGC in youth justice, we believe this project is among the first in the UK to establish the use of the New Zealand model with its emphasis on ‘private family time’ as an ongoing established service. Although the data were collected before 2002, the project contains unique features which we believe should be brought to the attention of the wider academic and practice community given that FGC is still a fairly new, unexplored and under-evaluated phenomenon in youth justice. There is currently a need for more research looking at the use of FGC in relation to young offenders. (author's abstract)

Minnesota Department of Corrections. Restorative Justice Program Evaluation: Fiscal Years 2004-2007

Beginning in fiscal year (FY) 2004, the Minnesota Department of Corrections (DOC) has collected survey data that measure the perceptions of offenders, victims, and community members who have participated in state-funded restorative justice (RJ) programs. Participants were administered pre- and post-process surveys immediately before and after the RJ meeting and later were mailed a final, follow-up survey. Between FY 2004 and FY 2007, survey data were collected from 4,598 participants on the pre-process survey; 3,986 participants on the post-process survey; and 1,135 on the follow-up survey. This report presents the results from the survey data, which are summarized below. (excerpt)

Editor. The Criminal Justice System in Zambia: Enhancing the Delivery of Security in Africa

Th e African Human Security Initiative (AHSI) is a consortium of organisations that has taken the initiative to emphasise human security in Africa. AHSI has used the opportunity created by the peer review concept to complement the formal African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) process of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) to undertake a focused review of the criminal justice system in selected countries identified for the APRM... Zambia has made great progress since the re-establishment of a multiparty democracy - particularly since the late President Levy Mwanawasa took over in 2002 - but there are still serious gaps in its criminal justice law reforms with accompanying major challenges. Despite real progress, capacity gaps remain serious and so do corruption and human rights violations in the treatment of prisoners. One of the biggest problems is overcrowded prisons. In short, Zambia needs to implement some major reforms in its criminal justice system to enhance efficiency and effectiveness. (excerpt)

Crumley-Effinger, Anna. Planting the Tree of Peace Among Enemies

This article is a report on some of the workshops held by the Alternatives to Violence Project, a reconciliation effort based on restorative justice practices that operates in Africa to heal communities affected by genocide and civil instability. These workshops sought to bring together residents of two towns, one on the border of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the other on the border of Rwanda, with a historically complicated and adversarial past.

Willemsens, Jolien. The needs of the European restorative justice scene

Next to the analysis of the national legislation of all EU Member States, and the analysis of existing international regulations of the European Union, the Council of Europe, and the United Nations, a questionnaire has been launched on the needs of the European restorative justice scene. This presentation will focus mainly on the results of this questionnaire and what these results tell us about the need to take further initiatives at the international – or supranational – level. (excerpt)

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 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.