Results of Research from British Experiments in Restorative Justice (From Criminal Justice, Restitution, and Reconciliation, P 83-107, 1990, Burt Galaway and Joe Hudson, eds. -- See NCJ-126460)

• NCJ Number: 126468
• Author(s): T F Marshall
• Date Published: 1990
• Length: 25 pages
• Sale Source: Criminal Justice Press/Willow Tree Press
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Evaluations of four British mediation and reparation schemes compared such issues as ability to secure referrals and achieve mediation, mediation objectives, types of offenders and victims served, and procedures used.

Abstract

The experiments indicate that mediation can be implemented and that it increases offenders' sense of responsibility rather than their feelings of inadequacy and rejection. The programs view reparation -- psychological and social as well as pecuniary -- as an element of justice for victims. Operational problems identified include insufficient referrals and limited time within criminal justice processing to complete mediation. A major failing of all the schemes was failure to provide followup of the parties. All the projects had difficulty maintaining their underlying philosophy of restorative justice in the context of a dominating criminal justice system. This research suggests that future development of victim-offender mediation should be independent of the criminal justice system, that the focus of mediation should be on the victim-offender relationship, that mediation must be linked to victim services, that use of trained lay volunteers be expanded, and that issues of reparation and offender accountability should be separated. 10 references (Author abstract modified)