U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

Effectiveness of Restorative Justice Practices: A Meta-Analysis

NCJ Number
209998
Journal
Prison Journal Volume: 85 Issue: 2 Dated: June 2005 Pages: 127-144
Author(s)
Jeff Latimer; Craig Dowden; Danielle Muise
Date Published
June 2005
Length
18 pages
Annotation
Using meta-analytical techniques, this article synthesizes the empirical findings present in the literature on the effectiveness of restorative justice practices.
Abstract
For the purpose of this meta-analysis, the operational definition of "restorative justice" was "a voluntary, community-based response to criminal behavior that attempts to bring together the victim, the offender, and the community, in an effort to address the harm caused by the criminal behavior." This study selected victim and offender satisfaction, recidivism, and restitution compliance as the variables sufficiently available to be subjected to a meta-analysis. A total of 22 unique studies that examined the effectiveness of 35 individual restorative justice programs generated 66 effect sizes. A table summarizes specific study characteristics. Based on the findings of this meta-analysis, restorative justice was more successful than traditional nonrestorative approaches in improving victim and/or offender satisfaction, increasing offender compliance with restitution, and decreasing the recidivism of offenders. The positive results of this meta-analysis are mitigated, however, by the self-section bias evident in controlled outcome studies on restorative justice programs. Restorative justice, due to its inherent characteristics, is a voluntary process, which creates a treatment group (offenders and victims) who have chosen to participate in the program; thus, they may be more motivated than the control group. 42 references