Mediation and restorative justice in prison settings: Lessons learned from the UK Project.

Source: (2011) Newsletter of the European Forum for Restorative Justice. 12(3):2-3.

The general conclusion of the UK research is positive for RJ practices in prisons. However, several reservations and caveats were identified. There was no doubt that RJ in prison is widespread. However, it is piecemeal, inconsistent and sometimes invisible. It is also characterised by numerous implementation barriers and definitional ambiguity. Our research suggested that these problems are not insoluble. In fact, what seemed to be consistent throughout our findings was the absence of institutional opposition and philosophical doubt about the viability and applicability of RJ in prison settings as Guidoni (2003) Immarigeon (1999) and others supported. More importantly, case studies suggest that certain best practices have already been successful in overcoming these challenges. Whether their success and lessons are replicable or not is indeed a matter of debate and further research. (excerpt)