Restorative Justice: What we know and how we know it

Source: (2004) Working Paper # 1, With Powerpoints. Jerry Lee Program on Randomized Controlled Trials In Restorative Justice. University of Pennsylvania, Lee Center of Criminology; and Australian National University, Centre for Restorative Justice. Downloaded 30 November 2004.

The accumulated findings of randomized controlled trials on the effects of face-to-face restorative justice yield the following conclusions as of August 2004: criminal cases diverted from prosecution to restorative processes featuring face-to-face meetings between victims and offenders, when randomly assigned in comparison to either A) prosecution in court that can result in a criminal record, or B) other forms of diversion from formal prosecution of juvenile offenders that do not involve face-to-face meetings with crime victims, result in
1) Statistically significant and substantial benefits for crime victims, as measured by interviews with victims in-person or by telephone;
2) statistically significant and substantial reductions in repeat offending in some tests, in some social settings, with some demographic groups, as measured by police arrest or charge data
3) statistically significant a substantial increases in repeat offending in other tests, tests, in some social settings, with some demographic groups, as measured by police arrest or charge data
4) consistent and substantial reductions in crime victims’ stated desire for physically violent revenge against the offenders
5) several tests and demographic comparisons in which RJ makes no statistically significant difference in repeat offending. Author’s abstract.