Transcript PPT

Restorative Justice
For Victims, Offenders and Community
Mark Umbreit, Ph.D., Sheryl Wilson, B.A. Annie Roberts M.Sc.
Center for Restorative Justice & Peacemaking
University of Minnesota
School of Social Work
January 2006
Key Questions:
Retributive Justice
 What
laws were broken?
 Who did it?
 What punishment do they deserve?
Dr. Howard Zehr
Eastern Mennonite University
Key Questions:
Restorative Justice
 Who
has been hurt by this event?
 What
are their needs?
 Whose
obligations are they?
Dr. Howard Zehr
Eastern Mennonite University
Key Characteristics:
Restorative Justice
 Victim-centered
 Offender-focused
 Community-driven
 Government
as safeguard
Dr. Marlene Young
National Organization for Victim Assistance
Restorative Justice
“Restorative justice provides opportunities for those
most directly affected by a crime (victim,offender,
families, and other community members) to be
actively involved in the process of addressing
harms, needs and obligations. RJ is about offender
accountability, victim healing, and community
safety, through mediation and dialogue whenever
possible.”
Dr. Mark S. Umbreit
University of Minnesota
Current Justice System:
HOLDING OFFENDERS ACCOUNTABLE
ACCOUNTABILITY MEANS TAKING
YOUR PUNISHMENT
 Victim and Offender in passive roles
 Focus on deficits
 Debt is abstract
 Little, if any, victim restitution
Restorative Justice System:
HOLDING OFFENDERS ACCOUNTABLE
ACCOUNTABILITY MEANS TAKING
RESPONSIBILITY AND TAKING ACTION
TO REPAIR THE HARM TO VICTIM(S)
 Victim and offender in active roles
 Focus on strengths
 Debt is concrete
 Victim restitution/restoration is norm
Key Elements of Restorative Justice
(Howard Zehr 12/98)
Harm-focused

Victim-centered responses

Offender accountably addresses the
harm
Key Elements of Restorative Justice
(Howard Zehr 12/98)
Engagement
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Stakeholders involved in the process:
victims, community, offender
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Dialogue, exchange of information,
mutual agreement encouraged
RJ Dialogue Processes - Prototypes
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Victim Offender Mediation (VOM)
 Victim and offender
 Multi-party

Restorative Group Conferencing (RGC)
 Family Group Conferencing (FGC)
 Community Conferencing (CC)

Circles
 Peacemaking circles
 Talking circles
COMMUNITY POLICING
Restorative Dialogue
R J Dialogue
Processes
Models
PRISONER RE-ENTRY
Adapted from: Mark Seidler,
Engaging & Involving Crime Victims
“A Balanced & Restorative Justice System”
Victim Members on Advisory Committees
 Victim Members on Special Task Forces
 Victim Awareness Staff Training
 Victim Awareness Training for Offenders
 Victim Panels/Dialogue with Offenders
 Victim Offender Dialogue Groups
(in facility and/or in community)

Engaging & Involving Crime Victims
“A Balanced & Restorative Justice System”
Victim Offender Mediation & Conferencing
 Family Group Conferencing
 Peacemaking and Sentencing Circles
 Victims as Mentors for Offenders
 Victims as Supervisors of Community
Service

(Dr. Mark Umbreit, BARJ Project)
Where RJ Dialogue fits in CJS
DIVERSION
PRE-TRIAL OR PREADJUDICATION
PREVENTION
Dialogue
Opportunity
PAROLE &
REENTRY
PROBATION
PRISON OR
COMMITMENT
Evidence-based Best Practices
Restorative Justice Dialogue
A Meta-Analysis conducted by the
Canadian Department of Justice, 2001
 Examined 27 victim offender mediation
program evaluations
 Examined 8 family group conferencing
program evaluations
 26 youth studies, 9 adult studies

Outcome Measures Examined
 Victim
Satisfaction
 Offender
Satisfaction
 Restitution
 Recidivism
Compliance
Victim Satisfaction
 Higher
victim satisfaction ratings when
compared to a comparison group
 Total
of 13 studies, 9 VOM, 4 FGC
Offender Satisfaction
 Moderate
to weak positive impact on
offender satisfaction in all but one of
the 13 studies when compared to nonrestorative approaches
 Total
of 13 studies, 7 VOM, 6 FGC
Restitution Compliance
 Substantially
higher compliance rates
than offenders exposed to other
arrangements
 Total
of 8 studies
Recidivism
 Restorative
justice dialogue or
conferencing, on average, yield
reductions in recidivism when
compared to non-restorative
approaches
 Total
of 32 studies, 24 VOM, 8 FGC
Nugent, Umbreit, Wiinamaki, Paddock
Recidivism Study – Meta Analysis
2001

Successful replication of 4 studies

Sample of 1,298 juvenile offenders

VOM = 619, Comparison Group = 679

32% REDUCTION IN RECIDIVISM
Participation in Victim Offender Mediation and
the Prevalence and Severity of Subsequent
Delinquent Behavior: A Meta-Analysis
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William Nugent, Mona Williams, Mark Umbreit
University of Tennessee and University of Minnesota
Utah Law Review, December 2003
Total sample of 9,307 juvenile offenders
Sample came from 19 program sites (15 prior studies)
The meta-analysis suggests a 26% reduction in recidivism
For those who recidivated, their future delinquent
behavior decreased in severity (statistically significant)
The effect size is 2-3 times greater than 2 prior metaanalyses of juvenile recidivism in non-restorative programs
Selected Books
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The Little Book of RJ (series) – Zehr
Critical Issues in RJ – Zehr and Toews
Peacemaking Circles – Pranis, Stuart & Wedge
The Handbook of VOM – Umbreit
Facing Violence – Umbreit, Vos, Coates, Brown
Changing Lenses – Zehr
Videos and Web-site
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Restorative Justice Videos -- $20 each
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1 of 6 in series – total price for all $100
Center for RJ & Peacemaking, U of MN, School of Social
Work, 1-612-624-4923
Web-site, Center for Restorative Justice &
Peacemaking, University of Minnesota
Current: ssw.che.umn.edu/rjp
Soon to be changed to: rjp.umn.edu
RJ Dialogue – other “systems”
CRIMINAL JUSTICE
SYSTEM (CJS)
FAITH
COMMUNITIES
PUBLIC HEALTH SOCIAL SERVICES
RJ Opportunity
SCHOOLS
COMMUNITY/
NEIGHBORHOOD
WORKPLACE