An exploratory evaluation of restorative justice schemes

This report presents the results of a 15-month study of the effectiveness of restorative justice schemes conducted between July 1999 and November 2000. The principal fieldwork was undertaken between December 1999 and June 2000 in seven restorative justice schemes across England, two of them dealing principally with adult offenders and the other five with juveniles. The research was commissioned under the Crime Reduction Programme (CRP), a major government-funded initiative aimed at discovering ‘what works’ in reducing crime and reoffending. The CRP is also concerned to ensure that reductions are delivered efficiently, so a further focus of attention was upon cost-effectiveness in the achievement of the outputs, impacts and outcomes of the schemes examined. The aims of the research were: to identify which elements, or which combination of elements, in restorative justice schemes are most effective in reducing crime and at what cost; to provide recommendations on the content of, and best practice for, schemes to be mainstreamed