Society’s Response to Crime

Solution Preview

(1) Is restorative justice useful in lowering the rate of recidivism? For which types of crimes and offenders is it most useful? Make sure to include any demographic information that may be useful in defending this type of "justice."

Proponents of restorative justice assert that the function can be beneficial in lowering the rate at which offenders commit crimes Tyler, Sherman, Strang, Barnes, & Woods, 2007). They suggest that this benefit is due to psychological mechanisms of "reintegrative shaming and procedural justice. Tyler et al utilized data from an Australian sample focused on examining psychological mechanism on drinking and driving. The Australian Reintegrative Shaming Experiment (RISE) was used to assess through the use of police records the long-term impact of " reintegrative shaming and procedural justice" relative to supporting the law; and later as it relates to recidivism.

The theory of procedural justice holds that fair procedures lead to a further compliance of the law as it is viewed as legitimate. Therefore in the words of Tyler et al (2007) "The procedural justice argument is supported by authorities who accept the legal decisions. Moreover, in their opinion, restorative justice have some of the same features as procedural justice

These police records indicate whether people were arrested for re-offending both during the two-year period prior to the second interview (Years 1-2), and during the two-year period following the second interview (Years 3-4).1

Tyler et al (2007) hypothesized that their restorative justice conferences will be more oriented toward feelings of procedural justice and shaming that the traditional process of court disposition. They assert that procedural justice and morality together provide support for the law and future compliance.
Tyler et al (2007) study devaluate the impact of restorative justice conferences relative to people's behavior to rule breaking. Findings of the Tyler et al (2007) study suggest that both traditional court-based dispositions and conferences aimed at restorative justice increases support for the low and decrease the future rate of crime. However, according to Tyler et al (20007) findings suggest that the rate of offending only drops if attention is given to the problem of rule breaking. Moreover, authorities never understand how to effectively deal with ...