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Restorative justice: The Need for Awareness Within the Law Enforcement Community
Samuel Trudeau

Introduction

I did research on the current limitations encountered by restorative
justice practices. While traditional justice focuses specifically on the
offenders, restorative justice shows that there are other crucial
parties involved in the commission of crime and these parties are
critical to the success of restoration (Fox, 2014). I am interested in
determining the current limitations of restorative justice in order to
provide the reader with solutions/opportunities .The research
question I studied is composed of the following two pieces:
a) What are the current limitations faced by restorative justice
programs and restorative justice practices?
b) What are the opportunities and potential solutions for these
limitations?
I decided to conduct this research in order to get a better
understanding of the current issues encounter by restorative justice
and provide opportunities/solutions to these issues. Most
importantly, the objective of this research is to raise awareness
among law enforcement practitioners. It is crucial for law
enforcement practitioners to be aware of the limitations of restorative
justice because they are the ones directly involved in the criminal
justice system and those who can make a difference.

Background

Police officers, law enforcement officers and the community as a
whole must know and understand the principles and objectives of
restorative justice in order to apply it. Previous research studies have
shown a critical lack of awareness coming from both the community
and law enforcement practitioners (Laxminarayan, & Wolthuis, 2015).
The analysis of current limitations faced by restorative justice is an
important subject to research since restorative justice has been
shown to have positive impacts on both the community and the
different parties involved in the process. For instance, “a review of
restorative justice conferencing using face to face meetings of
offenders and victims showed that, on average, this approach can
cause a modest but highly cost-effective reduction in repeat
offending, with substantial benefits for victims.” (Plecas, 2014, p.13).

Methods

The articles selected for this research were chosen based on their
relevant content and consistency regarding the research topic and
themes (Image of Justice, Availability, Funding’s). More than 10,000
articles came out from the initial search. Inclusion and exclusion
criteria’s were used to reduce the amount of hits. The number of
articles was once again too high which is why “Full text” and
“Scholarly Journals” were added to the search. Among the 313 articles
that came out of the final search, 25 articles were selected for
abstract review. Eight articles among the several articles selected for
abstract review were selected for complete review. These articles
provided the information required to determine the limitations of
restorative justice along with different perspectives regarding the
research topic. The data collected through this research has been
analyzed with a comparative methodology. Secondary data coming
from various articles has been analyzed in order to determine existing
gaps and trends that were consistent and repetitive from one article
to another. This method increases the reliability of the data since it
provides trends that have been noticed from different perspectives,
which, in turn, increases the probability of accuracy.

Results/Findings

In relation to the first piece of the research question, the purpose of
which was to identify the current limitations of restorative justice
programs and restorative justice practices, there are three different
themes that stand out from the literature. The themes in question
were the need to change the image of justice, the availability of
restorative justice programs and restorative justice practices and
finally the lack of funding. During analysis of the findings, I noticed
that the limitations of restorative justice were all interrelated to each
other and caused by the lack of awareness from the community, but
most importantly, law enforcement practitioners. As mentioned by
Malini Laxminarayan and Annemieke Wolthuis, “culture may change
to become more restorative through greater awareness, cooperation
and trust.” (Laxminarayan, & Wolthuis, 2015).

Bachelor of Law Enforcement Studies

Discussion

While conducting my research, and reviewing the literature, I found a
correlation between the lack of awareness regarding restorative
justice and the current limitations faced by restorative justice.
Throughout the literature, I noticed that the fact that people do not
see restorative justice as a real punishment, makes it hard to fully
integrate the criminal justice system and gain credibility. If law
enforcement practitioners were aware of the process and were aware
that restorative justice is not a “softer” but rather a “different” way to
address criminal behaviours, restorative justice programs could gain
support and credibility that would benefit the community. Fairly
recent studies and surveys such as a crime survey for England and
Wales, determined that “only 4.2% of victims of crime where the
offender was known to the police recall being offered restorative
justice.” (Collins, 2016, p.1) These numbers show an extremely low
percentage of referrals and results showed that lack of awareness was
the main cause of it.

Recommendations

Firstly, since there is no agreement regarding the definition of
restorative justice practices, it will be fundamental for the criminal
justice system to agree on a definition. Secondly, increase the
involvement of the public in the restorative justice process. Finally,
create partnerships with the community (e.g., local businesses).

Conclusions

After analyzing the literature, I determined that the limitations of
restorative justice were, the need to change the image of restorative
justice, the lack of availability of restorative justice and finally, the lack
of funding. Information gathered among reports, researches and
surveys provided me with information necessary for the
determination of future opportunities and solutions that have been
provided in the discussion and recommendations portion of this
project. I decided to focus on increasing awareness among law
enforcement practitioners because they are the one who have the
power to apply restorative justice practices. Law enforcement
practitioners are directly involved in the criminal justice system and
have the potential to fully integrate restorative justice in the criminal
justice system. Awareness is the key for the success of restorative
justice and law enforcement practitioners must understand the
benefits and impact of restorative justice on their community.

References

Collins, J., (2016). How can more victims access restorative justice?
Retrieved from https://www.restorativejustice.org.uk/blog/howcan-more-victims-access-restorative-justice
Fox, K. J., (2014) Restoring the social: Offender reintegration in a risky
world, International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal
Justice, 38:3, 235-256, DOI: 10.1080/01924036.2013.848221
Laxminarayan, M., & Wolthuis, A. (2015). Accessibility of restorative
justice: Attitudes as barriers to greater referrals. Social Work
Review / Revista De Asistenta Sociala, 14(4), 35-45.
Plecas, D. (2014). Getting serious about crime reduction: REPORT of
the BLUE RIBBON PANEL on CRIME REDUCTION. (Analysis). British
Columbia: British Columbia Ministry of Justice.

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Justice Institute of British Columbia