Examining the effectiveness of a restorative justice program for various types of juvenile offenders.
Restorative justice (RJ) programs have become widespread in the United States and in other countries. These programs are often seen as a viable alternative to traditional retributive processing, especially for minor, and sometimes more serious, forms of delinquency and adult criminality. The programs hold promise for achieving several goals, including increased community and victim involvement, greater satisfaction with the case outcomes, improved offender compliance, increased perceptions of fairness, and even recidivism reduction. Meta-analyses have demonstrated varying degrees of program success in recidivism reduction, which may in part reflect differential effectiveness of the RJ approach for various kinds of offenders. This study examined whether an RJ program for juvenile offenders had differential impacts on recidivism across various offender characteristics (including age, gender, racial group, offending history, and current offense). Results generally support the effectiveness of the program for many types of offenders. Implications for future research and potential improvements to the RJ model are discussed.
Department of Criminal Justice and Political Science, North Dakota State University, Dept. 2315, P.O. Box 6050, Fargo, ND 58108-6050, USA. kathleen.bergseth@ndsu.edu
Kathleen J
KJ
Bergseth
Jeffrey A
JA
Bouffard
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003415:Crime / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D018864:Cultural Diversity; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006808:Humanism; D006801:Humans; D057194:Intention to Treat Analysis; D007604:Juvenile Delinquency / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D008297:Male; D015146:Midwestern United States; D011329:Prisoners / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000523:psychology*; D011678:Punishment; D012307:Risk Factors; D055502:Secondary Prevention; D012935:Social Justice / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000523:psychology*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult