CRIMINAL BEHAVIOURS

CRIMINAL BEHAVIOURS

1. EVALUATION Methods of modifying behaviour

   • RESTORATIVE JUSTICE
     • Social implications
       • Financial implications
         • One key aim is to reduce prison populations as Britain has a very large prison population
         • Howard Zehr
           • ...reminds us that another reason for restorative justice is that the traditional penal system did not address the needs of victim nor did it promote offender accountability
         • UK Restorative Justice Council
           • ...claims that reduced reoffending means that £8 is saved for every £1 spent on the restorative process (e.g. reduced custodial costs, court costs, police time etc)
           • Additionally the cost of restorative justice is sometimes funded by fines paid by offenders. Thus restorative justice may have substantial financial benefits for the community
       • Wider approach in the community
         • Peace circles
           • Example of the kind of community programme that has been developed in communities where violence and crime levels are high
           • The 'circles' aim to foster an environment of respect so that the community offers support to victims of crime and also welcomes the offender into the circle to enable mutual understanding
           • Pranis et al
             • There is a 'keeper' whose task is to maintain a atmosphere of respect and articulate constructive solutions
           • Everyone sits in chairs placed in a circle. A 'talking piece' is passed from one person to another around the circle so that a person can speak uninterrupted
         • Wilson et al
           • There are other kinds of 'circles of support' that have developed with the aim of giving community support to offenders to prevent reoffending instead of excluding them

2. Effectiveness

   • Effectiveness from the victim's perspective
     • Restorative Justice Council
       • ...reports 85% satisfaction from victims in face-to-face meetings with their offender(s)
       • These reports of victim satisfaction covered a large range of different crimes from theft and violent crime
     • Avon and Somerset police force
       • ...reported 92.5% victim satisfaction when victims has been the subject of a violent crime
     • Digan
       • Victims also claim greater sense of satisfaction than when cases go through mainstream courts
   • Effectiveness in terms of reduced offending
     • Lawrence Sherman and Heather Strang
       • ...reviewed 20 studies of face-to-face meetings between offender and victim in the US, UK and Australia
       • All studies showed reduced reoffending and none were linked to higher reoffending
       • In one of the studies (142 males convicted of violence and property offences) there were lower reoffending rates (11%) as compared with a matched control group who served a short prison sentence (37% reoffending)
     • UK Restorative Justice Council
       • report an overall figure of 37% reoffending
   • Selecting which offenders and which victims
     • Howard Zehr
       • ...claims that restorative justice can take place without an offender's presence
     • Secondly...
       • Some kinds of crime may not be suitable though, in fact, the process is used for every crime imaginable
     • Finally...
       • Some victims may decline the offer. Means that restorative justice can't be a global situation to dealing with offending behaviour

3. Ethical implications

   • From the victim's perspective
     • Major ethical concern...
       • ...is what happens if the victim actually feels worse afterwards
       • Many ways in which psychological harm may happen, e.g. the victim may feel that the criminal showed no empathy for the harm caused, and feel 'injured' for a second time, leading to a loss of self-esteem
         • Victim may feel taken advantage of if the criminal was offered RJ as opposed to a custodial sentence, especially if the criminal doesn't appear to be taking the procedure seriously
   • From the offender's perspective
     • Making people face up to their wrongdoing can lead to abuses of power, e.g. victims can gang up on an offender especially where the offender is a child
     • Victims may also try to shame the offender which is not the intention of the process. The process is intended to provide mutual benefits so that it is important that an offender feels 'understood'