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Restorative Justice and Reconviction

The Ministry of Justice (formerly the Home Office) in London released the last in a series of reports on the effectiveness of restorative justice. This report discusses the reconviction rates and cost effectiveness of three restorative justice schemes funded under the Home Office Crime Reduction Programme from mid-2001 through 2004.

Attitudes of Victims and Offenders toward Restorative Justice

A June 2007 report from the Ministry of Justice in the UK reports the attitudes of victims and offenders participating in three different restorative justice schemes from 2001-2004. The evaluation shows that the majority of victims and offenders found the restorative justice process satisfactory, with communication being listed as one of the most important elements of the process.

Moore, Robin. Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programmes for Young Offenders: The Evidence Base so Far

ISSP, the latest in a long line of intensive community-based programs, was designed to include components that previous evaluations have found to be effective in reducing probationers' reoffending. ISSP targets offenders ages 10-17. Unlike many previous intensive programs, it targets offenders both before and after custody. i.e., as a condition of bail supervision, as part of a community-based sentence, and as a condition of community supervision in the second half of a detention and training order (DTO). ISSP targets that small group of habitual and serious juvenile offenders. The program involves increased officer-probationer contact, home-confinement orders, curfews, random drug testing, restitution to victims, electronic monitoring, and offender fees for supervision. Features and objectives of ISSP include education and training, restorative justice, behavioral modification, the development of interpersonal skills, and family support. Key objectives of ISSP are a reduction in the rate of reoffending by at least 5 percent and a reduction in the seriousness of any reoffending. Evaluation findings show that ISSP holds promise for both reducing reoffending and incarceration rates by targeting high-risk juvenile offenders. Abstract courtesy of National Criminal Justice Reference Service, www.ncjrs.org.

Kearns, Michael. Restorative Justice: Integrating Restorative Practice into the English Justice System

Michael Kearns is a serving police office with the Metropolitan Police Service, London, England. At the time of writing this paper, he was on secondment with a Youth Offending Team in Bexley Borough, South London. In the paper he describes his own experiences in various efforts to integrate restorative practices into the English justice system, particularly the youth justice system. In this regard he discusses the origins and principles of restorative justice; the significance of communication for offenders and victims in justice processes; and the aims, structures, and practices of the youth justice system in England following the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, especially with the Act’s emphasis on prevention of offending by children and young people.

Miers, David and Semenchuk, Mike. Victim-Offender Mediation with juvenile offenders in England and Wales.

The European Commission’s Grotius II Criminal Programme initiated a project to address the need for better understanding of victim-offender mediation practices with juvenile offenders and justice systems in Europe. Under this project, studies were contracted and research papers produced to examine the situation in a number of European countries. Each study covered the following matters: norms and legislation allowing for the implementation of VOM programs; theoretical frameworks of VOM centers; organizational structure of VOM centers; categories and profiles of juvenile offenses; professional characteristics and job satisfaction of mediators; and advantages and criticisms of VOM. The papers were presented and discussed at a final seminar in Bologna, Italy, September 19-20, 2003. Within the categories mentioned above, this particular paper surveys victim-offender mediation with juvenile offenders in England and Wales.

Hennessy, Julia and Carter, Ian and Dale, Christine and Carter, Ian. Family Group Conference and Young People Who Offend: Practice Standards

Outlines practice standards to apply to family group conferencing in Essex, England, including for the referral stage, writing the FGC report, meeting the victim, meeting the young person and family, contacting family members, liaison with key professionals/volunteers, arranging the venue, conducting the conference, the plan, and debriefing and contacting the participants following the conference.

Training and Accreditation Policy Development Group. Best Practice Guidance for Restorative Practitioners to form the basis of training and accreditation

The training and accreditation group (the group) was invited by Paul Goggins to look at how high quality restorative justice practice could best be assured, through training and accreditation. The first six months of our work has been to identify the components which should form the basis for accreditation as a restorative justice practitioner. This definition of best practice forms the core of this report, and will inform the development of national occupational standards. (excerpt)

Crawford, Adam and Newburn, Tim. Recent Developments in Restorative Justice for Young People in England and Wales: Community Participation and Representation

This article examines some recent attempts to introduce elements of restorative justice into the youth justice system. We focus on the introduction of referral orders and youth offender panels and, in particular, consider the issues of community participation and representation. In examining the early experiences of these new ways of working we highlight a series of questions that arise out of the tension between the participatory character of restorative justice and the managerialist nature of much contemporary youth justice in England and Wales.

Wynne, Jean. Victim-offender mediation in practice

Beginning with an introduction to victim-offender mediation, Wynne continues by describing this type of mediation in practical terms within the United Kingdom context. She discusses guidelines for setting up a mediation service, issues related to training for mediators, the mediation process, reparation, mediation in relation to the criminal justice system, and issues concerning the effectiveness of mediation. Case examples demonstrate important principles and practices of victim-offender mediation.

Liebmann, Marian and Masters, Guy. Victim-offender mediation in the UK

Liebmann and Masters examine the history and current state of victim-offender mediation in the United Kingdom (UK). Development began in the early 1980s with several local initiatives (some of which grew out of victim support efforts in the 1970s). Such initiatives multiplied, though there was no legislation or central guidance for victim-offender mediation in the UK. There was government interest in victim-offender mediation in 1985-1987, but that subsided until recently. The Crime & Disorder Act of 1998 has given new impetus to the development of restorative practices in the youth justice system in particular (with an emphasis on reparation), and substantial funds have been made available (1999) for restorative initiatives. General consensus about the principles and purposes of victim-offender mediation exists, yet there are many forms of victim-offender mediation in the UK. One factor affecting variation is that parts of the UK have significant differences in their criminal justice systems (e.g., Scotland). Also, significant differences in social and political conditions affect the structure and practice of victim-offender mediation (e.g., Northern Ireland). A variety of organizations are involved in mediation. These include probation services, social services, youth justice centers, police (the Thames Valley police are noteworthy in this regard), prisons, and community mediation services. (Mediation UK, for example, is an umbrella organization for mediation.) The authors provide a summary of a number of programs and organizations involved in mediation, and they describe in general the practice of mediation (pre-conditions, principles and skills, purpose, process, follow-up).

George, Chris. Victim Support’s perspective on restorative justice

Victim Support in the United Kingdom is a voluntary organization providing services to victims of crimes, their families, and crime witnesses. From that perspective, George maintains that restorative justice can offer real benefits to victims of crime. However, he further argues that certain issues must be addressed for this to happen. In this article George discusses several issues that would involve crime victims in restorative justice in integral ways, such as understanding how crime affects victims and offering victims genuine choices in restorative processes.

Wright, Martin. Victims Meet Offenders in an English Urban Community

Much has been written about the widespread dissatisfaction with the adversarial system of criminal justice and its inability to address the needs of victims, communities and offenders has been extensively documented. Victim/offender mediation and the principles of reparative justice provide an alternative framework for responding to crime and victimization. Mediation is a process in which victims and offenders communicate with the help of an impartial third party, enabling victims to express their needs and feelings, and offenders to accept their responsibilities. In the context of victim/offender mediation, reparation is the contribution that can be made by offender to victim to help put right harm caused by the crime. If the victim does not wish to receive it personally, reparation must be made to the community. Reparation may include an apology, financial payment, practical work, return or repair of goods, an undertaking of future behavior or voluntary participation in education, treatment or training programs. Restorative justice aims to restore victims of crime as far as possible to their state before the crime, and denounces the offense by requiring the offender to take responsibility for it, and make reparation, if appropriate, to the victim or the community. It also assists offenders to regain acceptance as law-abiding members of the community.

Mediation UK. Practice standards for mediators and the management of mediation services.

This document updates and replaces a similar set of standards published by Mediation UK in 1993. Some of the key purposes of the standards include improvement of mediation services, promotion of national criteria for assessing and accrediting mediation services, and protection of clients. The document consists of an introduction, a definition of mediation, information on Mediation UK, standards for mediators and mediation services, and an appendix. The standards for mediators and mediations services cover ethical values and guidelines for operations. The appendix lists skills and knowledge relevant to mediators.

Marshall, Tony F. Results of Research from British Experiments in Restorative Justice

Evaluations were conducted of 4 U.K. Home Office-funded mediation and reparation schemes; several other schemes around the U.K. also voluntarily used the same data forms and participated in the evaluation. The experiments demonstrate that mediation can be carried out, and that it increases offenders' sense of responsibility rather than their feelings of inadequacy and rejection. Reparation: psychological and social as well as pecuniary: is seen as a part of natural justice for victims. All of the schemes had difficulty maintaining their underlying philosophy of restorative justice in the face of a dominating criminal justice system. Recommendations for future program development are presented.

Marshall, Tony F. Restorative Justice on Trial in Britain

A Home Office study followed all cases referred to the major victim-offender mediation projects in England over two years. Despite many favorable outcomes, the main problematic for these projects was that of reconciliation to the "hostile environment" of traditional criminal justice. Existing agencies tended to "take over" the new schemes and try to adapt them to their own ends, whereas the greatest potential in such innovations lay in the new aims underlying them, related to reconciliation and a conflict resolution approach to crime policy. The greatest obstacles lay in the offender-orientation and punishment focus of the existing system.

Marshall, Tony F. Grassroots Initiatives towards Restorative Justice: The New Paradigm?

This article describes grassroots initiatives aimed at restorative justice in Great Britain. There is little the system can do to reduce crime, yet prison populations continue to rise. The benevolent cycle of informal social control is described. The danger in returning control to communities is discussed. Geographic perspectives of community are limiting. The management of society utilizing the roles of intermediate social structures in a collaborative way would be useful. Various attempts at community justice are considered, including those using conflict resolution principles. The role of mediation practices is discussed, and the design of a restorative justice system is described.

Marsh, P and Crow, G. Family Group Conferences in Child Welfare Services in England and Wales

In England and Wales, the principles of the Children Act 1989 and the research underpinning this Act provide the backdrop for family group conferences. An organized program of training has been coordinated and supported since 1992 by the Family Rights Group, with research support from the University of Sheffield. This chapter describes this backdrop to the program, outlines some of the key areas now being examined, and provides a brief description of the current state of development of family group conferences in England.

Harding, J. Reconciling Mediation with Criminal Justice

This chapter describes some of the significant influences which led to the revival of reparative justice in Britain and the development of mediation procedures involving victims and their offenders. The initiatives of the 1980s in Britain are described and their influence on the movement are discussed. Finally, the author speculates about the future of VOM in Britain.

Allen, Rob. Juvenile Justice Reform in England and Wales

I think the first thing to say is that the reform of the youth justice system has been a big political priority in my country over the last 4 or 5 years. I don’t know if any of you follow politics in the United Kingdom, but in 1997, we had a new government of the Labour Party, lead by Mr. Tony Blair, and this was after a long time in opposition, and in fact he made his reputation in part because of his polices on crime, and he invented a slogan or a saying, ‘Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime’ which sums up the Labour Party approach. They think that we should be quite harsh on criminals, and punish them and so on. But they also recognize that the roots of criminality and crime lay in social conditions, in the depravation, poverty, bad housing and so on. And they are trying to change the way in which people live, in their lives, to make it less likely that they would be criminals too. There was a specific interest in the youth justice system. The government said, ‘if you look at all the people in prison, all of the adults in prison, most of them started to commit the crimes when they were children.’ So if we can make it that this part of the system works better, it would be a good, a very good investment because we would be reducing the number of adult offenders. (excerpt)

McGrath, Jim. Restorative Practices in Education: Managing Challenging Behaviour. Evaluation Report for Southend-on-Sea Restorative Practices Project, September 2003 – July 2004

The Southend Family Group Conference Project has established itself as a core service within the Borough in the short period that it has been in operation. The introduction of Restorative Practices has further strengthened its reputation as a proactive and forward thinking service. This evaluation was a study of the first forty-eight restorative conferences to be held in the piloted Southend schools. The aim of this research is to establish the Projects success in implementing the process and the effectiveness of Restorative Practices when used to challenge unacceptable behaviour. (excerpt)