An excellent program that produces “results”, even though some of the hard right wingers on this site would describe the program as using the “hug a thug” approach.

None-the-less the evidence in reduced number of criminal recidivism (repeating criminal acts) for persons who have gone through the Restorative Justice Program compared to the ordinary probation program is obvious.

“The offenders who participated in the restorative justice program had lower recidivism rates than the matched group of probationers. With each year during the follow-up the differences in recidivism rates for the two groups widened. At the first year, the restorative justice offenders had a recidivism rate of 15% compared to 38% for the probation group. At the second year the respective rates were 28% and 54% and by the third year the rates were 35% and 66%.”

.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/pblctns/jstc-rcdvs/index-en.aspx

However, for some, it’s hard to let go of the “punish them hard” right wing ideology, even when the evidence and facts show the contrary.

I think that if you get a group that volunteers for the restorative justice offenders versus a group that is not interested in the program, the outcome would be pretty obvious. Comparing the two groups is an exercise in futility.

Lets look at the restorative justice offenders recidivism in isolation.

First year 15% Second year 28% Third year 35% So we had an increase of recidivism in each year. Now if we knew how many people participated in the program we could get an idea of just how successful it was.

The lets look at the normal probationary program recidivism in isolation as well then:

First year 38%, Second year 54%, Third year 66%, So we had a “greater” increase in recidivism each year in the probationary program than the increases for the Restorative Justice Program participants. But of course you will discount this study, because? Well because you want to continue to bellyache about how nothing works and we must punish, punish, punish.

So Palopu, we look forward to your future posted comments that complain about “hug a thug” approaches not working, and the justice system not working, and the what ever else not working… whaa, whaa, whaaa…. round, round, we go!!!

Most restorative justice programs offer benefits for crime victims as well, rather than re-victimizing them like the court system often does.

Many victims who have been through the restorative justice process with the offender say meeting their offender, hearing the circumstances that led to the offense, being able to face them and tell them how much of an impact the crime made on them helped them understand, move on, and in some cases forgive.

JGalt. When you talk about whaa, whaa, whaaa, and round, round, we go, you are in effect talking about yourself. You (and some others) are always trying to project some sort of positivity to the point that you lose sight of reality. Much like putting lipstick on a pig, and believing that somehow you made a change.

Everyone in BC, in the Government and otherwise knows that the BC Justice System is not working. We have huge backlogs in the courts, people having charges dropped because of not getting a trial in a reasonable period of time, etc; etc; etc;. So no surprises here.

These programs like the one above, and many others are basically an indication of the Government abdication of responsibility for crime, and the Justice System. So form various societies, and give them some funding, and give the impression that they are making a difference.

We have many highly paid civil servants that are responsible for running the Government, and in my opinion its time they got of their backsides, and start to earn their money.

In other words quit muddying the water, and give us some clear indications of what has been done in the past 10 years, and what the plan is going forward, for solving the crime and drug situation in BC.