Repair or Revenge Victims and Restorative Justice

by Strang, Heather

• ISBN13: 9780199274291
• ISBN10: 0199274290
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-12-09
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Restorative justice has become the emerging social movement for reform in the criminal justice system over the past decade. It refers to a range of informal justice practices designed to require offenders to take responsibility for their wrong-doing and to meet the needs of affected victims and communities. This book, based on empirical research findings, investigates whether restorative justice can offer victims of crime more than the formal court-based justice system.

Author Biography

Dr. Heather Strang is Director of the Centre for Restorative Justice and a Fellow at the Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	vii
General Editor's Introduction	ix
List of Figures	xvii
List of Tables	xix
The Victim in Criminal Justice	1	(24)
Introduction	1	(2)
The Role of the Victim in Historical Perspective	3	(2)
The Contemporary Role of the Victim	5	(3)
What Do Victims Want?	8	(15)
Victims want a less formal process where their views count	8	(2)
Victims want more information about both the processing and outcome of their cases	10	(2)
Victims want to participate in their cases	12	(1)
Victims want to be treated respectfully and fairly	13	(2)
Victims want material restoration	15	(3)
Victims want emotional restoration and an apology	18	(5)
Summary	23	(2)
Victims of Crime and the Victim Movement	25	(18)
Introduction	25	(1)
The Victim Movement	26	(2)
Two Kinds of Victim Movement	28	(5)
United States model: rights-focused	29	(3)
European model: support-focused	32	(1)
How Useful, How Effective?	33	(2)
Rights groups	33	(1)
Support groups	33	(2)
A Third Way for Victims? Canberra as a Case Study	35	(6)
Summary	41	(2)
The Theory and Practice of Restorative Justice	43	(20)
Introduction	43	(1)
What Is Restorative Justice?	43	(6)
What May Restorative Justice Offer Victims?	49	(7)
A less formal process where their views count?	50	(2)
More information about both the processing and the outcome of the case?	52	(1)
Participation in the case?	52	(1)
Respectful and fair treatment?	53	(1)
Material restoration?	54	(1)
Emotional restoration and an apology?	55	(1)
Shortcomings for Victims in Restorative Justice	56	(2)
Some victims are more afraid as a result of restorative justice	56	(1)
Victims can experience power imbalance as a result of restorative justice	57	(1)
Victims may be `used' in restorative justice	58	(1)
Summary	58	(1)
The Canberra Reintegrative Shaming Experiments	59	(4)
The Reintegrative Shaming Experiments: Research Design and Methodology	63	(25)
Introduction	63	(2)
Overall RISE Research Design	65	(9)
Suitability of Canberra for the experiments and generalizability of findings	66	(1)
Sample size	66	(1)
Unit of analysis	66	(1)
Offence eligibility	67	(1)
Offender eligibility	68	(1)
Pipeline tracking	68	(1)
Police discretion	69	(1)
Random assignment	69	(1)
Assigning the cases	70	(2)
The ethics of random assignment	72	(2)
Methods of Measurement	74	(1)
Analysing Victim Effects: Research Designs and Response Rates	74	(7)
Sampling frames and response rates	75	(2)
Case-based and victim-based response rates	77	(1)
Assigned versus actual treatment	78	(3)
Designing the Victim Questionnaire	81	(2)
Conducting the Victim Interviews	83	(2)
Who were the respondents for the victim interviews?	83	(1)
Making contact	84	(1)
Privacy issues	84	(1)
Comparison Between Victim Characteristics and Offender Characteristics	85	(1)
Summary	85	(3)
The Lived Experience of Victims	88	(43)
Introduction	88	(2)
Material Harm and Restoration	90	(5)
Emotional Harm and Restoration (Including Apology)	95	(23)
Safety and fear	96	(4)
Sense of security	100	(1)
Helpfulness of the conference	100	(2)
Anger and sympathy towards offender	102	(2)
Dignity, self-respect, self-confidence	104	(1)
Trust	104	(3)
Anxiety	107	(1)
Embarrassment and shame	108	(2)
Feeling emotionally settled	110	(1)
Forgiveness	110	(2)
Closure	112	(1)
Apology	113	(5)
Communication of Information about Processing and Outcome	118	(4)
A Participating Role	122	(4)
Fair and Respectful Treatment	126	(3)
Summary	129	(2)
Victim Satisfaction with the Restorative Justice Alternative	131	(24)
Introduction	131	(2)
Satisfaction: Court vs Conference	133	(3)
Dissatisfaction: Court vs Conference	136	(3)
Good and Bad Experiences	139	(11)
Lessons From Failed Conferences	150	(2)
Summary	152	(3)
Victims and Offenders: A Relational Analysis	155	(37)
Heather Strang
Daniel J. Woods
Introduction	155	(1)
The Zero-sum Analysis	155	(2)
The Non-zero-sum Restorative Justice Analysis	157	(3)
Testing the Relational Hypothesis	160	(1)
Method	161	(3)
Data	164	(1)
Who Wins, Who Loses in Court and Conference?	165	(7)
Emotional restoration post-treatment: the `healing gives rise to healing' hypothesis	165	(2)
Emotional harm post-treatment: the `hurt gives rise to hurt' hypothesis	167	(3)
Perceptions of legitimacy	170	(2)
Who Wins, Who Loses in Conferences?	172	(5)
Emotional restoration in treatment: the `healing gives rise to healing' hypothesis	173	(1)
Emotional harm in treatment: the `hurt gives rise to hurt' hypothesis	173	(1)
Participation in conferences	173	(1)
Procedural justice in conferences	173	(4)
Testing the Relational Hypothesis: Is Win/Win More Common than the Joint Probability of each Winning?	177	(11)
Emotional restoration: the `healing gives rise to healing' hypothesis	179	(6)
Emotional harm: the `hurt gives rise to hurt' hypothesis	185	(1)
Perceptions of legitimacy	185	(1)
Participation in the process (conference data only)	185	(3)
Perceptions of procedural justice (conference data only)	188	(1)
Summary	188	(4)
Repair or Revenge?	192	(19)
Introduction	192	(1)
Summary of Findings	192	(9)
Victims' discontents	192	(2)
The restorative justice alternative	194	(2)
Comparing court and conference	196	(3)
Zero-sum justice?	199	(2)
Critiques of Restorative Justice from the Victim Perspective	201	(5)
Principled problems with focusing on harm to the victim	201	(1)
Principled problems with focusing on private wrong rather than public interest	202	(2)
Problems with victim fear	204	(1)
Problems with power imbalance	204	(1)
Problems with `using' victims	205	(1)
Policy Implications	206	(1)
Future Research	207	(1)
`An Experience of Justice'?	208	(3)
Appendices	211	(58)
Bibliography	269	(20)
Index	289