Public Attitudes Toward Restorative Justice

Source: (1996) Wellington, NZ: New Zealand Department of Justice.

Qualitative research was commissioned by the New Zealand Department of Justice to explore public attitudes toward restorative justice, a philosophy that identifies people as victims and views interpersonal dimensions as central to the crime response. Overall research objectives were to assess public attitudes toward the concept of restorative justice and to evaluate components of a criminal justice approach based on restorative justice principles. Sixteen focus groups were conducted in 1994, and each group had a maximum of seven people. Group discussions were used to research aspects of restorative justice that had public support, possible concerns about specific aspects of restorative justice, reactions to possible restorative justice options, and the best way of explaining restorative justice to the public. Abstract courtesy of National Criminal Justice Reference Service, www.ncjrs.org