The Impact of Restorative Justice Conferencing: A Review of 63 Empirical Studies in 5 Countries

Source: (2002) St. Paul: Centre for Restorative Justice and Peacemaking

Seeking to evaluate the impact of restorative justice conferencing, the authors begin with a discussion of conceptual elements and common practices of restorative justice and community justice. They note fluidity in both concepts and practices. Among restorative and community justice theorists and practitioners, there are variations of emphasis and changes in conception and practice over time. All of this is true with respect to restorative justice conferencing, the focus in this paper and a broad term to indicate three well-known modes of conferencing (victim-offender mediation, family group conferencing, and peacemaking circles). With all of this in mind, the authors review 63 empirical studies of restorative justice conferencing from 5 countries. They assess data from those studies with respect to client satisfaction, fairness, restitution, diversion, recidivism, and cost.