Balancing justice goals: restorative justice practitioners’ views

Despite the importance of facilitators, staff, and volunteers to restorative justice programs, we know very little about what they think about the goals of restorative justice. This paper fills that gap by reporting the findings of a survey of restorative justice practitioners in Nova Scotia, Canada. Participants rated the importance of 29 justice-related goals such as punishment and accountability. The results show how respondents distinguish between, prioritize, and balance competing justice goals. A factor analysis shows how goals cluster together revealing more depth about how practitioners understand goals, such as accountability, that have different meanings depending on the context. The findings are particularly interesting because the restorative justice program in Nova Scotia is deeply embedded in the criminal justice system. The findings speak to concerns about whether programs rooted in the mainstream system risk being diluted by dominant criminal justice system discourses. I conclude that restorative justice practitioners can prioritize the values of restorative justice in a program that is deeply rooted in the mainstream criminal justice system.     

检察机关适用刑事和解调研报告

刑事和解是近年来我国各地检察机关努力探索的一种新的刑事案件处理方式。虽然目前尚缺乏有关刑事和解的统一法律规定,但检察机关适用刑事和解的实践表明,各地在刑事和解的适用范围、条件、程序等方面都存在着共通性和相似性,从而为立法上确立刑事和解制度奠定了基础。但同时,各地检察机关在刑事和解适用的证据条件、调解主体的担任、辩护人及诉讼代理人对刑事和解的参与等方面仍存在不同认识,需要从理论上进一步加以研究解决。     

刑事和解制度论纲

平衡理论、叙说理论和恢复正义理论是当今西方刑事和解理论中流行的三种解说,其中恢复正义是刑事和解最重要的理论基础。在我国刑事司法领域中,并不存在严格意义的刑事和解制度。基于刑事和解在被害恢复与加害恢复方面的双重价值,应当对此制度进行合理化的借鉴,构建刑事和解的中国模式。     

构建刑事和解制度探讨

刑事和解应适用于刑事诉讼的各个阶段,原则上由人民调解委员会主持,检察机关参与到和解的各个过程,且应与社区矫正相对接,从而实现犯罪人和被害人的共同正义。     

The New Zealand Model of Family Group Conferencing

The Family Group Conference (FGC) originated in New Zealand where it is the foundation stone of the Youth Justice system introduced in 1989. A significant feature of that system is the way in which it enables restorative justice principles to be implemented in an integrated manner in a statutory framework supervised by the courts and applicable to all young offenders throughout New Zealand. FGCs are used both as a diversionary technique (pre-adjudication) and at a (post-adjudication) pre-sentencing stage. In addition this type of model is now being applied in a voluntary way but on a small scale with adults. A significant feature of the FGC model is its greater use of community-based solutions with a consequent reduction in the number of young persons in state institutions.     

Youth restorative justice conferencing: facilitator’s language – help or hindrance?

Youth crime is an ongoing concern in Australia. Victims, offenders and the community are all affected by crime and the current criminal justice approach seems both ineffective and inefficient. Restorative justice proponents have posited that their approach to justice through dialogue and negotiation in the conferencing process may be more effective than the traditional retributive justice. Restorative justice conferencing for young offenders is not, however, unfaultable in its ability to reduce the harm caused by crime or to reduce recidivism. The main focus of conferencing has been on the outcomes with limited attention paid to the process and its impact on a young offender’s sense of wrongdoing and remorse. There has been limited research undertaken into the oral competencies of young offenders in relation to their performance in conferencing, and equally limited studies on the specific use of language by facilitators. Other research has shown a coexistence of youth offending and developmental language and learning disabilities. The secondary study discussed in this paper reveals the language difficulties encountered by young offenders in the conferencing process. It is recommended that in order for young offenders to understand what they have been asked, to reflect on it, to express their thoughts and feelings, and for behavioural change to occur, the communication, both verbal and non-verbal, must be unambiguous, comprehensible and pitched at their individual demographic. More research is required into language use by conference facilitators and its impact on young offenders.     

Victims and offenders of criminal violence

In order to test the hypothesis that victims and offenders of criminal violence are linked by means of the same life-style, a representative sample of 172 sentenced offenders and their victims was analyzed. It could be demonstrated that the pairs were systematically asymmetric: the offenders were younger, more often males, less wealthy, and more socially deviant than their victims, in spite of the fact that the victims were not representative for a normal population with regard to social deviance. The results of the study are more compatible with the supposition that violence can arise when certain situations are misinterpreted by the offender than with the proposal that violence is a result of similar life-styles in special segments of the population.     

Culture,values, and beliefs about economic justice

We examine the relationship between values and beliefs about economic justice by conducting a cross-cultural analysis. Social values of Americans and West Germans are compared and the relationships between values and beliefs about the fairness of the distribution of business profits are examined. Data are from the 1984 General Social Survey and its West German counterpart, the 1984 ALLBUS; both surveys contain identical value and economic justice items. We find that among citizens in both countries beliefs about the fairness of the distribution of business profits are related to values even when income and education are held constant, but the relationship is stronger in West Germany. For Americans, beliefs about the fairness of the distribution of business profits are related primarily to conservative values (beliefs that greater efforts lead to greater rewards). In addition, the positive influence of conservative values and of income level on fairness judgments is greater for Americans with higher levels of education. For West Germans, beliefs about the fairness of business profits are related both to conservative and to liberal values (beliefs that class divisions persist). In general, economic fairness judgments of West Germans have a strong ideological basis, but polarization associated with differing ideologies is found. Economic fairness judgments of Americans showed both a simpler ideological basis and some relationship to self-interest. The influence of both factors on Americans' fairness judgments seemed to be affected by socialization due to education. Results are discussed in terms of the prevailing economic ideologies in both countries.     

Family Group Conferencing and Re‐Offending Among First‐Time Juvenile Offenders: The Indianapolis Experiment

Restorative justice processes, and family group conferences in particular, have become increasingly common in justice system practices across the globe. There has also been significant scholarly interest. Yet, with several notable exceptions, much of the research has been characterized by relatively weak designs, and questions related to the impact of family group conferences on re‐offending remain unanswered. This research is intended to begin to address these issues. The study is based on an experiment conducted in Indianapolis, Indiana whereby young, first‐time‐offending youths were randomly assigned to either a family group conference or one of a number of court‐ordered diversion programs. Nearly 800 youths participated in the experiment, and the cases were tracked for 24 months following their initial arrest. Survival analysis techniques were used to compare prevalence patterns of re‐offending among the treatment and control groups. The results indicated a significant difference between the two groups with the control group experiencing higher rates of failure (re‐offending). The differences were most pronounced during the period of 3–8 months following the initial arrest. Incidence rates were also compared. Assignment to the treatment group was negatively related to incidence of offending. Given the consistent finding of victim benefits in restorative justice processes, the results suggest that conferences hold promise as an effective intervention, at least for young first‐time offenders, and warrant continued experimentation.     

FAMILY GROUP CONFERENCES

Family group conferencing has emerged as a child welfare system–transforming practice that fosters new collaborations between families, child welfare practitioners, and the courts. The key components of the model are explained. This article highlights the strengths and challenges associated with incorporating family group conferencing into traditional child welfare agency and court practice. It suggests future practice considerations and outcome-based study that are necessary to strengthen and sustain family group conferencing as a prevention/intervention strategy.     

论建构我国刑事和解制度的法理基础——兼论刑事和解制度的基本框定

我国刑事和解制度阙失的根本成因在于对其法理基础的不自信,本质是被害人在刑事诉讼过程中的缺位、边缘化和失语。刑事和解制度的建立和完善是我国刑事司法制度实现由国家主义向民本主义转型的必然要求,是重估和校正传统的刑罚功能判定的必然结论,是凸显刑罚促进社会和谐价值的必然举措。适用于特定刑事案件的刑事和解制度的建构及其运作,应当遵循促进当事人和解、尊重当事人意思自治、坚持司法机关主导的基本原则,并对达成刑事和解协议的加害人实行轻缓化的刑罚处遇。     

刑事和解与传统刑事责任理论

最近十年的刑事责任研究基本停滞,无法实现理论之明显提升,其重要原因在于,责任论始终以刑罚为唯一关注,使得刑事责任论与刑罚论难辨你我,无法获得超越于刑罚论的实质性内核。“刑事和解”的出现,为我们展示了对责任的另一种理解可能,从而为摆脱责任论的研究困境提供了难得的契机。以和解的责任观为线索,对传统责任论的核心内容展开深入反思,可以看到：责任的承担,不仅要面向国家,而且要面向被害人和社区;责任的实现方式,应从“刑罚-保安处分”的二元格局,迈向“刑罚-保安处分-刑事和解”的三元格局;责任的基本诉求,则应在传统的惩罚与预防的框架内,导入恢复性的价值目标。     

论我国刑事和解的立法化

我国刑事和解立法不但是必要的,而且是可行的;为便于司法机关统一适用刑事和解.防止刑事和解的随意性,更好地保护被害人的利益,应当在刑事诉讼法和刑法中的适当位置分别就刑事和解的程序规则和实体处理进行规定.     

The intellectual adolescence of organizational justice: You've come a long way,maybe

To highlight the advances and limitations in the study of organizational justice as reflected by the articles in this issue, the field is characterized as being in its intellectual adolescence. Following this analogy, some signs of scientific maturity are noted. Among these are (a) increased attention to the connections between organizational justice and various organizational processes, (b) expanded efforts toward conceptual refinement, and (c) greater reliance on research conducted in natural settings. At the same time, the adolescent state of the field is also marked by its intellectual awkwardness and immaturity. Indications of this include (a) the absence of guiding theory, (b) an underdeveloped research agenda, and (c) an overreliance on the use of ad hoc measurements. Based on these limitations, suggestions are made for ways of nurturing the field's development. The article concludes with an optimistic vision of tomorrow's field of organizational justice.