Most studies about victim-offender meetings have been performed within prison populations, with little reference to offenders diagnosed with mental disorders. In establishing the effects of such meetings, these studies often use quantitative measures. Little is known about meetings between victims and offenders with mental disorders and about the more qualitative subjective experiences of the participants regarding these meetings. In this interview study, we inquired into the subjective experiences of sixteen participants in victim-offender meetings, six of whom are victims and ten offenders of severe crimes, currently residing in forensic mental health facilities. Topics of the interviews included benefits of the meeting and perceptions of each other prior to and after the meeting. Important benefits that participants experienced from meeting each other were reconnecting with family, processing the offence and contributing to each other’s well-being. Such benefits are comparable to those mentioned in studies on meetings with offenders without a mental disorder, challenging the practice that mentally disordered offenders are often excluded from such meetings. Most victims experienced a positive change in perception of the offender owing to the meeting. They perceived the offender as a human being and associated him less exclusively with his offence. Implications for clinical practice are addressed. |
Search result: 129 articles
Article |
Meetings between victims and offenders suffering from a mental disorder in forensic mental health facilities: a qualitative exploration of their subjective experiences |
Journal | The International Journal of Restorative Justice, Issue Online First 2022 |
Keywords | Victim-offender meetings, restorative justice, forensic mental health, victimology, perception |
Authors | Mariëtte van Denderen and Michiel van der Wolf |
AbstractAuthor's information |
Conversations on restorative justice |
A talk with Howard Zehr |
Journal | The International Journal of Restorative Justice, Issue 1 2022 |
Authors | Brunilda Pali |
Author's information |
Article |
Promoting restorative justice as de jure punishment: a vision for a different future |
Journal | The International Journal of Restorative Justice, Issue 1 2022 |
Keywords | restorative justice, punishment |
Authors | Christian Gade |
AbstractAuthor's information |
Restorative justice has frequently been presented as a new criminal justice paradigm, and as something that is radically different from punishment. I will argue that this ‘oppositioning’ is problematic for two reasons: first, because some cases of restorative justice constitute de facto punishment from the perspectives of some positions on what punishment is; second, because restorative justice could reasonably be more widely adopted as a new form of de jure punishment, which could potentially increase the use of restorative justice for the benefit of victims, offenders and society at large. In connection with the latter, I want to present some preliminary thoughts on how restorative justice could be incorporated into future criminal justice systems as de jure punishment. Furthermore, I will suggest that by insisting that restorative justice is radically different from punishment, restorative justice advocates may - contrary to their intentions − play into the hands of those who want to preserve the status quo rather than developing future criminal justice systems in the direction of restorative justice. |
Article |
Is a whole-school approach necessary? The potential for alternative models of restorative justice in education |
Journal | The International Journal of Restorative Justice, Issue 1 2022 |
Keywords | restorative justice, procedural justice, student voice |
Authors | Heather Norris |
AbstractAuthor's information |
Evaluations of restorative justice frequently report that only a minority of schools succeed in adopting a whole-school approach. More common are a consortium of practices necessitating the evaluation of schools not implementing the whole-school model but still achieving positive results. Previous research established that unconventional models have successful outcomes, yet little is known about the contextual factors and the causal mechanisms of different practices. This study finds that models of restorative justice facilitating student voice and consequently procedural justice have promising outcomes. Importantly, alternative models may be less resource-intensive, making them more feasible to fully implement. |
Notes from the field |
The Parents Circle-Families Forum – Israeli Palestinian bereaved families for peace: voices and actions from the field of the encounter |
Journal | The International Journal of Restorative Justice, Issue 1 2022 |
Authors | Claudia Mazzucato |
Author's information |
In Memoriam |
Elmar G.M. Weitekamp (1954‒2022): opening the windows of crime and justice studies to the world |
Journal | The International Journal of Restorative Justice, Issue 1 2022 |
Authors | Stephan Parmentier and Mina Rauschenbach |
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Notes from the field |
Reflections on the stories of Layla Alsheikh and Robi Damelin |
Journal | The International Journal of Restorative Justice, Issue 1 2022 |
Authors | Tim Chapman |
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Book Review |
Lindsey Pointer, The restorative justice ritual |
Journal | The International Journal of Restorative Justice, Issue 1 2022 |
Authors | Gerry Johnstone |
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Book Review |
Ted Lewis and Carl Stauffer, Listening to the movement |
Journal | The International Journal of Restorative Justice, Issue 1 2022 |
Authors | Thomas Levy |
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Editorial |
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Journal | The International Journal of Restorative Justice, Issue Online First 2022 |
Authors | John Braithwaite |
Author's information |
Article |
Diversion and restorative justice in the context of juvenile justice reforms in Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam |
Journal | The International Journal of Restorative Justice, Issue Online First 2022 |
Keywords | children’s rights, juvenile justice, restorative justice, diversion, implementation challenges, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines |
Authors | Le Thu Dao, Le Huynh Tan Duy, Ukrit Sornprohm e.a. |
AbstractAuthor's information |
Diversion is an important vehicle for delivering an alternative model of youth justice, one that is, hopefully, grounded in principles of children’s rights and restorative justice. Several Asia-Pacific countries, often with international assistance, have sought to develop alternative processes and programmes to which children in conflict with the law can be diverted to. In some instances, these have included restorative justice programmes. This article provides an overview of the implementation of a restorative justice approach, as a youth justice diversion measure, in four South-East Asian countries: Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam. It describes juvenile justice reforms in these countries, particularly as they relate to the implementation of diversion and restorative justice and reflects on the factors that may have affected the success of these reforms. Every one of these countries has achieved a measure of success in implementing diversion and restorative justice, although restorative justice has occupied a different place in these reforms. The article offers a general overview of key challenges and notable successes encountered during that process, as well as an opportunity to consider the role of tradition, culture and public expectations in the implementation of restorative justice principles in the context of juvenile justice. |
Article |
Towards a restorative justice approach to white-collar crime and supra-individual victimisation |
Journal | The International Journal of Restorative Justice, Issue Online First 2022 |
Keywords | restorative justice, white-collar crimes, supra-individual victimisation, spokespersons at restorative meetings, eligibility criteria |
Authors | Daniela Gaddi and María José Rodríguez Puerta |
AbstractAuthor's information |
This work examines the feasibility of extending the implementation of restorative justice to the field of white-collar crime for a specific class of victimisation: that which people experience as a group (i.e. supra-individual victimisation). For this purpose, we analyse some key issues and outline a number of criteria for determining who would be able to speak on behalf of supra-individual victims of white-collar crime in restorative meetings. Some initial proposals are offered, based on four types of supra-individual victimisation, which would provide a framework for the selection of spokespersons who could attend restorative meetings in restoratively oriented criminal proceedings. |
Article |
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Journal | Erasmus Law Review, Issue 3 2021 |
Keywords | victim-offender contact, resocialisation, victim acknowledgement, forensic psychiatry, mentally disordered offenders |
Authors | Lydia Dalhuisen and Alice Kirsten Bosma |
AbstractAuthor's information |
Crime victims have gained a stronger position in all phases of the criminal procedure, including the post-sentencing phase. It is in this phase specifically that victims’ needs and interests relating to acknowledgement interplay with the offenders’ needs and interests relating to resocialisation. In the Netherlands, offenders who suffer from a mental disorder at the time of the offence limiting their criminal accountability and pose a significant safety threat, can be given a TBS order. This means that they are placed in a forensic psychiatric hospital to prevent further crimes and receive treatment aimed at resocialisation. As resocialisation requires the offender to return to society, contact with the victim might be a necessary step. This article focuses on victim-offender contact during the execution of this TBS order, and looks at risks and opportunities of victim-offender contact in this context, given the particular offender population. Offenders are divided into three groups: those with primarily psychotic disorders, those suffering from personality disorders and those with comorbidity, especially substance abuse disorders. The TBS population is atypical compared to offenders without a mental disorder. Their disorders can heighten the risks of unsuccessful or even counterproductive victim-offender contact. Yet, carefully executed victim-offender contact which includes thorough preparation, managing expectations and choosing the right type of contact can contribute to both successful resocialisation as well as victim acknowledgement. |
Article |
Restorative justice practice in forensic mental health settings: bridging the gap |
Journal | The International Journal of Restorative Justice, Issue Online First 2021 |
Keywords | restorative justice in mental health, evidence-based practice, institutional settings, victims, ethics |
Authors | Gerard Drennan and Fin Swanepoel |
AbstractAuthor's information |
The ‘clinic’ has developed sophisticated systems for responding to the challenge of serious mental health conditions. Mental health services combine hierarchical decision-making processes, with clear medical authority, with interventions that are required to be evidence-based to the highest standard. This is a system in which ethical, defensible practice is imperative to protect the public and to protect practitioners from legal liability in the event of adverse outcomes. Restorative justice interventions are powerful ‘medicine’. At their best, they change lives. However, the evidence base for formal restorative justice interventions when ‘administered’ to people with severe mental health difficulties is almost non-existent. It is into this relative vacuum of empirical support that initial steps are being taken to formalise access to restorative justice for mental health populations. This article will consider the challenges for applications of restorative justice in mental health settings and how the gap between the principle of equality of access and actual practice could be conceptualised and bridged. Recommendations include a rigorous commitment to meeting the needs of victims; a focus on the mental health patient’s capacity to consent rather than the capacity to benefit; practice-based evidence development and the inclusion of restorative justice awareness in all mental health practitioner training. |
Annual lecture |
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Journal | The International Journal of Restorative Justice, Issue 3 2021 |
Keywords | relational theory, transformative justice, systemic injustice |
Authors | Jennifer J. Llewellyn |
AbstractAuthor's information |
From the global pandemic to the Black Lives Matter, the Me Too/Times Up and Indigenous reconciliation and decolonisation movements, the systemic and structural failures of current social institutions around the world have all been brought to our collective consciousness in poignant, painful and urgent ways. The need for fundamental social and systemic transformation is clear. This challenge is central to the work of dealing with the past in countries undergoing transition and in established democracies confronting deep structural inequalities and injustices. Rooted in lessons from the application of restorative justice across these contexts, this article suggests that grounding restorative justice as a relational theory of justice is key to understanding and realising the potential of a restorative approach for transformation. It also explores the implications of this transformative imperative for the growth and development of restorative justice |
Editorial |
Is now the time for restorative justice for survivors of sexual assault? |
Journal | The International Journal of Restorative Justice, Issue 3 2021 |
Authors | Meredith Rossner and Miranda Forsyth |
Author's information |
Conversations on restorative justice |
A talk with Fania Davis |
Journal | The International Journal of Restorative Justice, Issue 3 2021 |
Authors | Albert Dzur |
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Book review with a focus |
Edward C. Valandra (Waŋbli Wapȟáha Hokšíla) (ed.), Colorizing restorative justice: Voicing our realities |
Journal | The International Journal of Restorative Justice, Issue 3 2021 |
Authors | Geri Hubbe |
Author's information |
Book review with a focus |
Where is ‘race’ in restorative justice? Creating space for book reviews ‘with a focus’ |
Journal | The International Journal of Restorative Justice, Issue 3 2021 |
Authors | Fernanda Fonseca Rosenblatt and Kennedy Anderson Domingos de Farias |
Author's information |