Repair or Revenge Victims and Restorative

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.

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

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

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Repair or Revenge Victims and Restorative Justice

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials