The Offer of Restorative Justice to Victims of Violent Crime: Should It Be Protective or Proactive?

Restorative justice favours the participation of both victims and offenders and promotes dialogue between these two parties to deal with the consequences of victimization. Research has shown that victims are generally very pleased with restorative justice. The main question is, therefore, not whether restorative justice should be offered to victims but how this should be done. In general, two divergent approaches exist: the protective model, which seeks to protect victims from possible secondary victimization and the proactive model, which seeks to inform victims about their options so that they can decide for themselves what they want to do. The present study is a qualitative study with victims of violent crime who participated in restorative justice programs, which followed either of these approaches. Based on victims’ experiences and views, the authors present a model procedure on how to offer restorative justice to victims.Victims Fund of the Canadian Department of Justice / Bureau d’Aide au Victimes d’Actes Criminels, Québec1.Background and Research Design; 1.1.Background; 1.2.Trauma and secondary victimization; 1.3.The protective and proactive models; 1.4.Research objectives; 1.5.Design; 2.The Views of Victims Regarding the Offer of Restorative Justice 10; 2.1.From protective to proactive; 2.1.1. The protective approach N=14); 2.1.2. The proactive approach (N=19); 2.2.Victims’ Views; 2.2.1. Appreciation of the protective offer; 2.2.2. Appreciation of the proactive offer; 2.3. Summary; 3. When (Not) To Offer Restorative Justice to Victims of Serious Crime; 3.1. Contra-indicators – when not to offer restorative justice; 3.1.1. Seriousness of the crime; 3.1.2. Trauma; 3.1.3. Victim’s age; 3.2. Indicators – when to offer restorative justice; 3.2.1. Type of offence; 3.2.2. Age offender; 3.2.3. Relation between victim and offender prior to victimization; 3.3. Summary; 4. A Model Procedure for the Offer of Restorative Justice to Victims of Serious Crime; 4.1. Conditions proposed by victims of serious crime; 4.1.1. Timing and flexibility of the offer; 4.1.2. Voluntary participation; 4.1.3. Clear and complete information; 4.1.4. Outreach; 4.2. Discussion; 4.3. Model procedure; 4.4. Conclusion; 5. Conclusion; 6. Bibliography