Handbook on Restorative justice programmes

HANDBOOK ON RESTORATIVE JUSTICE PROGRAMMES
68 
Miers, 2001, p. 85; see also McCold, 2003.

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앫 Preliminary findings suggest that victim-offender mediation can be
successfully used in cases involving severe violence.
앫 Both crime victims and offenders rate restorative processes as more
fair and satisfying than the conventional criminal justice system.
앫 Several studies have reported rates of satisfaction with restorative
processes among crime victims and offenders as high as 95 percent.
앫 Restorative processes can reduce the costs of doing justice and lead
to increased efficiencies in the response to crime.
앫 The effectiveness of restorative justice processes is increased when
agencies and programmes work together within a collaborative
framework.
Police
앫 It is possible for police officers to conduct restorative conferences
that require accountability on the part of the offender and are also
viewed as fair by victims, offenders and other relevant parties. 
앫 Restorative justice can be an integral component of an overall com-
munity policing strategy and a means to improve police-community
relations.
Crime victims
앫 Restorative justice programmes in some jurisdictions have experi-
enced difficulties in contacting crime victims and offering the
restorative justice option. 
앫 Restorative justice has a positive effect on the sense of closure among
crime victims and their feelings of well-being. 
앫 Crime victims report being less fearful after having met their
offender in the context of victim-offender mediation than in those
circumstances where they were not given the opportunity to do so.
앫 Restorative processes provide victims with a voice, an opportunity
for material reparation, the opportunity for the crime victim to
receive an apology from their offender and to receive additional
information from the offender about the crime, the reasons why the
offender selected the victim and committed the offence, and other
details, all of which are often not available in the conventional crim-
inal justice system.
Offenders
앫 There is preliminary evidence from evaluations that restorative
processes can sometimes reduce both the frequency and the severity
of re-offending.
chapter 7