NCJ Number
173670
Date Published
Unknown
Length
0 pages
Annotation
This videotape indicates the restorative justice approach may be more effective than incarceration for many victims and offenders due to its focus on assuring community safety.
Abstract
The criminal justice system tends to focus on what laws have been broken, who breaks the laws, and what the punishment should be. Because the criminal justice system also tends to be offender-driven, community safety is not always the focus, and resulting fear leads victims to seek revenge. Restorative justice is suggested as an alternative to retributive justice, and one component of restorative justice is victim-offender mediation. Benefits of victim-offender mediation include engaging victims in the criminal justice process, enabling victims to be heard, and holding offenders accountable. As an alternative to incarceration, restorative justice is more cost-effective and eliminates the problem of offender reintegration because offenders never leave the community. Restorative justice, however, is not a panacea for all social problems. Studies on the impact of restorative justice indicate the approach has public support, victims feel they are treated more fairly, offenders are held more accountable, victims are less fearful of revictimization, and offenders commit fewer and less serious crimes.