Restorative Justice: The Evidence
Source
The Smith Institute and Esmee Fairbairn Foundation ISBN: 1 905370 16 4 (2007)
TA review of research on restorative justice (RJ) in the UK and abroad shows that across 36 direct comparisons to conventional criminal justice (CJ), RJ has, in at least two tests each: 1) substantially reduced repeat offending for some offenders, but not all; 2) doubled (or more) the offences brought to justice as diversion from CJ; 3) reduced crime victims’ post-traumatic stress symptoms and related costs; 4) provided both victims and offenders with more satisfaction with justice than CJ; 5) reduced crime victims’ desire for violent revenge against their offenders; 6) reduced the costs of criminal justice, when used as diversion from CJ; 7) reduced recidivism more than prison (adults) or as well as prison (youths).
