Abstract
The research paper is to assist in understanding the use of restorative justice programs and recommendations preferred to enhance the effectiveness of these programs. Restorative programs have proven effective in solving disputes out of court. These programs ensure that the victims and the offender communicate with each other during their encounters to ensure that they express themselves freely and reach an agreement. It encourages the offender to accept their mistakes and be ready to resolve the issues by making compensations. Many victims and offenders who have participated in the process expressed their satisfaction. However, these programs face ethical issues that make people lose trust in the system. It is believed that they do not align with the criminal justice system processes since they operate independently with no legal procedures. Several recommendations can ensure that these programs achieve the intended goal of repairing harm and transforming the offenders. These programs must utilize inclusive and collaborative efforts to give parties a chance to raise their voice. Collaboration with the justice personnel, NGOs, community volunteers maximizes the effectiveness of the restorative programs by dealing with ethical issues raised. All stakeholders need to understand the principles and benefits of the restorative program to give many referrals and develop the programs.
Introduction
Restorative justice programs apply the restorative processes to repair and transform offenders’ actions by allowing them to redeem themselves. These programs require the parties involved in criminal activity to actively participate in repairing the harm, reducing suffering they have a cause, and taking steps to prevent reoffending. They bring the victim and offender into communication to fix the damage by finding an effective and positive way forward (Rogers & Miller, 2018). Restorative justice programs strive to make the offender take responsibility for their actions by helping them understand the harm they have created. The programs help victims to remain active in the process to reduce their anxiety and make them feel powerful. It is crucial to demonstrate the effectiveness of these programs to encourage a more constructive, responsive, and practical approach to justice. However, despite their benefits, these programs face ethical problems that create doubts about their effectiveness. Therefore, it is essential to provide recommendations to ensure that the programs effectively achieve their goals. This paper elaborates on the ethical issues surrounding restorative programs and recommendations to ensure their effectiveness.
Overview of restorative justice program
Restorative justice program acts as a response to crimes by giving the offender and the victim a platform to communicate and participate in repairing the harm. These programs recognize the importance of maintaining positive relationships in the community. Restorative justice focuses on the root cause of crime to prevent unjust treatment. Additionally, these programs should be present at all phases of the criminal justice system and can be used in any offences. Restorative programs are useful before trial to divert cases away from court proceedings. Also, they can be used after an offender is proven guilty to determine a substitute for the sentencing process. They can also be helpful in post-incarceration to help an imprisoned person integrate into the community.
Restorative justice programs act as part of the broader rehabilitation framework to reduce reoffending and encourage fair justice. The restorative processes should apply when the parties involved give their free and voluntary consent (Fawcett, 2021). Also, the parties in participant can withdraw their approval during the procedure. The program requires parties to understand the basic facts of the case to ensure effective participation. Many victims and offenders seem to be willing to participate in the process when given the opportunity. However, the rate of involvement in restorative procedures differs based on the type of offense, the referral method, personal attributes, and the relationship between the parties.
Nevertheless, restorative justice programs have core elements that represent the journey towards the well-being of the victims, offenders, and community members. For example, the encounter is the initial part of the restorative process that brings the offender and victim into contact. The meeting brings together people affected by the crime to interact and determine the best way to repair the harm. Encounters begin with an invitation that requests the parties to participate in the process voluntarily. Effective encounters occur when the offender accepts responsibility for their criminal activity and wants to amend the problem. The encounters must occur in safe places and involve accessible communication of opinions without judgment. Meetings facilitate perpetrators to compensate victims and potentially affected community members directly. The second element is repair which happens within these programs. Restorative programs seek to repair the damage caused by criminal activity. Repair recognizes the victim’s need to heal from physical, emotional, and financial harms through the encounters. The offenders require change by working towards gaining a good reputation in the community. Also, these programs strive to transform victims and offenders by identifying issues and resolving them.
Ethical issues associated with restorative justice programs
The restorative justice program seems to erode the legal rights of individuals involved. It sometimes fails to provide the required justice and punishment for the offender. Also, the process leaves professionals out of the conversation, which makes the process ineffective. The process cannot be successful without the help of a professional to help avoid problems that can arise from the encounter. Some critics also view the process as incomplete for failing to repair significant inequalities that encourage particular individuals to cause crime than others. They question the fairness of the method in addressing the root causes of criminal activity. Also, the programs are not helpful for more offending criminals like rape and murder who need severe punishment for their actions. It also does not ensure sincerity among the party involved. Some procedures occur online and might hinder the absolute honesty of the offender and the victim. It is hard to tell when the offender is sincerely remorseful about the actions during these discussions.
Moreover, participation is faulted because it is impossible for every person involved to be willing to participate in the process. The victim might be unwilling to solve issues with offenders out of court, which impairs the success of the restorative process. Also, it is difficult to relieve trauma when using restorative programs because the victim has to face the offender who caused harm to them, which can be traumatizing. Encountering the offender can increase the victim’s anxiety and cause more emotional pain instead of reducing trauma. Besides, the offender might cause more psychological harm to the victim, especially when the offender demonstrates no sympathy towards them. The offenders’ actions also can lead to lowered self-esteem of the offender.
Furthermore, these programs are not available to all offenders because victims might choose to reject the offer and prefer to go to court. It is not a global solution since many victims have no trust in the system. Also, many offenders might not be able to admit to their crimes, thus undermining the process. The process does not guarantee that other crimes might emerge from the encounters between the offender and victim. The encounters can produce other crimes when the offenders and victims are physically present. The offender might attack the victim and add more cases to resolve. Also, the victim might decide to attack the offender to take revenge, thus changing the procedure’s objective. These programs lack legitimacy, making many people prefer other means of resolving disputes. Besides, restorative programs require no legislation for successful implementation.
These programs do not guarantee that offenders will not engage in future crimes. The nature of the system solves and restores peace to the existing crimes but does not necessarily prevent future reoffending. The offenders involved might commit new crimes because no harsh punishment is given to the perpetrator. The programs cannot be more helpful when focusing on higher risk and more serious offenders. The high-risk offenders receive less punishment than they deserve when people use restorative programs. Therefore, this can motivate them to perform other crimes because they feel that the punishment is easy to handle. The restorative justice program does not support confidentiality because there is maximized communication among the involved persons. The encounters and interactions might expose sensitive crimes like rape and sexual assaults when explaining how the crime happened. The victims involved in such crimes might shy away from giving accurate details of the crime and harms it caused for fear of being stigmatized.
Recommendations to improve the effectiveness of restorative justice program
The experience of the restorative program implementation is best when the programs are established through a collaborative basis of the criminal justice agencies, NGOs, and community associations. Without collaborations, it can be hard to receive referrals from police and other law enforcement agencies. Having an effective communication strategy will help all the stakeholders to collaborate and educate everyone about the benefits, processes, and principles of the restorative justice programs. Consultation between involved stakeholders provides a criterion to refer clients to the restorative programs. These programs should secure support from justice systems to effectively implement the process. Communication between these bodies develops a common understanding of the restorative procedures and outcomes. Additionally, this helps maximize the use of restorative procedures by exploring how the process can be incorporated into the criminal justice system. Collaboration ensures that criminal justice personnel must develop ways to consider and accommodate concerns without diminishing the integrity of vital partnerships, processes, and agreements.
It is significant that the government provides rules to implement and maintain these programs. Furthermore, a legal framework can be vital in establishing new restorative justice programs and enhancing their legitimacy. Legislation can motivate the application of restorative justice programs by establishing a legal safeguard of the process. People are likely to embrace these processes when the law recommends and assures their effectiveness. Therefore, senior governments staffs should be well-informed and educated on the principles and practice of restorative justice programs. Also, they should understand the problems connected to using these processes. Receiving support from the criminal justice system can help mobilize and maintain government support and interests. The personnel in the criminal justice need to be informed to be able to explain to the victims the benefits of participating in the restorative process. Besides, acquiring information about these programs can encourage criminal systems to refer some cases to restorative techniques.
It is essential to effectively implement the procedure involved to ensure the program’s success. Effective implementation requires a collaborative effort of different agencies to provide the support needed to maintain the process. Effective use of restorative programs requires the offender to accept the wrongdoing and take responsibility for the behavior. Also, the victim should be voluntary and genuinely want to engage in the process. The process should occur in a safe and conducive environment to protect the victim from further victimization. The process should hold the offender accountable for the damages and work towards repairing them. The programs are effective when all the participants are respected and treated with compassion. The participants should be allowed to speak openly and honestly regarding the crime to reach a fair agreement. The procedure outcomes should be mutually agreed upon by the parties participating. No party should be forced to accept a particular decision
Additionally, the collaboration between the administrators the programs with member states is essential to encourage research on the evaluation of restorative programs to determine the extent to which they produce positive results (Gang et al., 2021). The analysis of these programs can help decide whether or not they can act as an alternative to the criminal justice system to produce positive results for all parties involved. The programs must change from time to time to ensure that they follow the principles and procedures required to give positive outcomes. The member states should encourage modification of these programs to meet the standards needed to achieve the desired goal. In addition, identifying and recruiting allies who support the programs can promote the application of restorative justice. These programs should involve professionals who can deal with any issue that might arise from the discussion and meet the needs of the victims and offenders. Professional involved should focus on changes in human behavior to ensure that offenders acquire positive change. For instance, restorative programs should incorporate psychologists to ensure that the process aligns with effective correctional treatment. Psychologists can help offender risk assessment cases involving severe crimes to reduce revictimization.
Building networks within the society can help improve the outcome of the restorative programs. The involved stakeholders should understand the principles and practices of restorative justice programs. For example, these stakeholders should understand the primary focus of these programs, like the emerging victim, offender, and community needs. Also, the stakeholders should be able to identify the root causes of the crime to prevent future offences. They should focus on the ways to repair the harm caused by a crime by giving the offender the responsibility of repairing the damage. Understanding the principles of the programs ensures that individuals respect the rules of the process to make it successful. Additionally, increasing funding for restorative justice from all levels of government and NGOs can help maintain these programs. These programs need resources to enhance their operations and create an environment safe enough for everyone involved.
Moreover, the restorative programs require trained volunteers and facilitators to ensure efficiency of the process. Therefore, training standards of the volunteers and facilitators should be developed to ensure that everyone understands their role in the restorative process. The facilitators require practical training on the methods and skills needed to participate in the process and achieve positive results. Also, facilitators should be chosen from all society setting to involve people who understand local cultures and communities. When properly trained, community volunteers can be essential facilitators to enhance the program outcomes. The training should offer conflict resolution skills and basic knowledge of the justice system. These volunteers should be able to produce sound judgment and acquire interpersonal skills appropriate in conducting these processes. Also, the facilitators should perform their duties in an unbiased manner. For instance, they should judge based on the facts of a case and the requirement and desires of the parties. They should ensure that the people involved respect each other to promote efficient process flow. The facilitators ensure that the restorative process occurs in a safe and conducive environment.
How these recommendations enhance restorative justice programs
When effectively implemented, restorative justice programs can achieve all the desired goals and objectives. These programs can support the victims by giving them a voice, listening to their side of the story, and encouraging them to demonstrate their needs and wishes. These programs can also assist the victims in acquiring answers to their concerns during their participation since people will be comfortable sharing opinions during discussion. In addition, when effectively planned, the process can focus directly on the needs and interests of the victims, such as empowerment, security, and expression. Training the volunteers and facilitators ensures that victims are fairly and respectfully treated during the resolution process. The victim gets a chance to determine the acceptable outcome that best suits their needs and desires when the program follows all the protocols. Furthermore, the victims are likely to believe and accept the judgment when they trust the program to give them fair and just treatment.
In addition, these programs can effectively repair the relationships harmed by the criminal activity by providing a platform to discuss the best way to respond to the issues raised. The programs should focus on dispute resolution, reconciliation, and peacemaking strategies to attain justice and assist victims and offenders. The process achieves justice while serving the greater public interest and safety in the community when all the stakeholders understand the procedure and principles involved. It can also help determine the underlying causes of a crime to establish crime prevention plans. Furthermore, restorative justice programs help reaffirm community values by disapproving criminal behaviors through government and community collaborative actions.
Nevertheless, restorative justice programs can ensure that all concerned parties take their responsibilities in the resolution process. The offenders are required to assume responsibility and embrace the consequences of their actions. The process allows the offender to realize the damage caused by their actions and focus on how to repair and avoid reoffending. Besides, all parties involved in the offence should compensate for the part they participated in during the crime. The offenders can also acquire cognitive and emotional transition and enhance their relations in the community with the help of professionals. Also, restorative procedures can engage different types of intervention, such as drug and mental health treatment. Counselors can be helpful in these programs to provide treatment to the offenders and the victims experiencing mental issues. Also, psychologists can help lessen the emotional impact and reduce post-traumatic stress among the victims through counseling and therapies.
Additionally, these programs identify the healing strategies and provide positive outcomes of the interactions when parties understand procedures. When parties are well-informed about the principles of the restorative program, they can improve their participation by sharing the required information about the crime to ensure fair treatment. The restorative approach focuses on the effects of the crime on the victims and society at large when all stakeholders participate willingly. Restorative justice programs prevent recidivism by encouraging change among the perpetrators and enabling reintegrating into the community (Han et al., 2021). Also, this strategy reduces the rate of reoffending by ensuring the complete transformation of the offender using different behavior change interventions. The victims and community participants require the offenders’ remorseful actions to lead to a commitment to minimize such crimes in the future. The entire process should benefit the victims, offenders, and community.
Nevertheless, these programs provide an alternative to criminal processes that improve the police-community relationship and reduce local crimes. Restorative justice programs allow the crime victims to meet their perpetrators and solve disputes out of court. These programs support community engagement and involvement in addressing the problems of crime and social disorder. They can reduce the costs and time associated with court processes by encouraging referrals to restorative programs to improve service delivery. These programs allow people to resolve disputes out of court, which fastens the process and limits the resources utilized. The restorative methods are highly effective when used in a more informed and comprehensive manner by the individuals involved. The procedure can be helpful in any crime, from low-level to high-risk crimes when all criminal justice systems are involved (Suzuki & Yuan, 2021). The process improves victim and offender satisfaction by increasing their compliance with the program’s operations. Enhancing the legitimacy of the restorative programs increases people’s trust and confidence in these programs. Therefore, many people are likely to participate in these processes when they trust the operations willingly.
Conclusion
Restorative justice programs are effective when the stakeholders clearly state and understand the procedure and principles. These programs involve face-to-face discussion between the victim and offenders who willingly decide to participate. It is helpful with any crime and any phase of the criminal justice process when the parties agree to participate. However, these programs have raised ethical issues concerning their effectiveness in solving disputes and encouraging transformation. For example, the plan’s participation is not guaranteed because some people do not trust the system for lack of legislation supporting it. Restorative programs might not be effective when the cases involve severe crimes like rape and murder. However, increasing the collaborative framework of the criminal justice system, society, NGOs, and restorative justice programs develops the use and effectiveness of these programs. Therefore, it is crucial to educate criminal justice personnel on the principles and procedures of restorative justice to ensure that they refer people to these programs. Also, training the facilitators and volunteers ensures that the program follows the proper criteria to satisfy every party.
References
Fawcett, E. (2021). Making Sense of Restorative Justice: An Analysis of Canadian Restorative Justice Programs (Doctoral dissertation, Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa).
Gang, D., Loff, B., Naylor, B., & Kirkman, M. (2021). A call for evaluation of restorative justice programs. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 22(1), 186-190.
Han, S., Valdovinos Olson, M., & Davis, R. C. (2021). Reducing recidivism through restorative justice: an evaluation of Bridges to Life in Dallas. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 60(7), 444-463.
Rogers, R., & Miller, H. V. (2018). Restorative justice. The Handbook of Social Control, 167-180.
Suzuki, M., & Yuan, X. (2021). How does restorative justice work? A qualitative metasynthesis. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 48(10), 1347-1365.
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