Face-to-face meetings 'reduce re-offending'

Last updated at 17:21 05 February 2007


Criminals are much less likely to reoffend if they meet their victims face-to-face it was reported today.

An evaluation of restorative justice schemes around the world suggested they could lead to substantial reductions in reoffending, the BBC said.

The report, led by Professor Lawrence Sherman from Cambridge University, also found that serious offenders tended to benefit more from the schemes.

The BBC said police and the courts already have the option of arranging meetings between offenders and their victims, but the schemes are not widely used because of doubts that they help to cut crime.

But victims also benefit from restorative justice because it reduces their desire for revenge and helps them to recover from the shock and distress of the offence, the BBC said.

The study suggested the schemes help adults more than children.

Lucie Russell, director of SmartJustice, which promotes "community solutions" to crime, welcomed the report.

She said: "The criminal justice system distances offenders from the impact of their crimes so that they often don't know what they have actually done to their victims.

Restorative justice makes offenders face up to the impact of their offending.

"It also gives victims the chance to explain the effect of the crime on them.

"This scheme needs to be widened. It is much better than the current system, which leaves a great distance between the offenders and their victims."

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