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Just Court ADR

The blog of Resolution Systems Institute

Posts Tagged ‘recidivism’

More Evidence of the Effectiveness of Restorative Justice

Jennifer Shack, April 10th, 2014

For this month’s Court ADR Connection (RSI’s monthly e-newsletter), I wrote about a study of 10 restorative justice conferences that demonstrated significant benefits to the community by reducing re-offense and to victims by enhancing their emotional well-being. New research from New Zealand provides more evidence of the benefits of RJCs. The study was large, examining re-offense rates of 2,323 individuals aged 17 or over who participated in RJCs and 6,718 matched individuals who went through a police diversion or court process.  To be included in the study, the offenders had to plead guilty to a charge in district court. Those who participated in RJCs committed 23% fewer offenses over the next twelve months than the matched group. The proportion of those reoffending was 12% less for the RJC group. However, in the second and third years the difference in re-offense rates between the groups narrowed.

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