Offenders to face victims

[andrewducker]

This is a fantastic idea (in certain circumstances). It should help both victims and perpetrators to move on.

People who commit crimes could avoid prosecution if they agree to face-to-face meetings with their victims and see the impact of their offences, it has been suggested.

Both victims and offenders would have to consent to taking part in the scheme with the perpetrator admitting to the offence.

Restorative justice has so far been confined largely to young offenders but will be stepped up to include more adult offenders, school bullies and anti-social hooligans.

Mr Blunkett said: "Restorative justice means victims can get an apology from their offender, but it is about more than 'saying sorry' - it provides the victim with an explanation of why the crime was committed.

"This is something a prison sentence on its own can never do and can enable victims to move on and carry on with their lives.

"It also means that for the first time offenders will be personally held to account for the crimes they have committed."

Comments

[heron61.livejournal.com]

Prison does nothing except teach inmates to be sociopaths and to learn how to be better criminals. The threat prison makes sense as a deterrent, but the logic of placing people in a hellish place and then expecting them to adapt back to society in some useful fashion after their release has always baffled me. If handled well, this program sounds like a wonderful option to punitive justice.

[allorin.livejournal.com]

Hey. I'm not really up to 'discussing' anything right now, but I just wanted to say I do sorta see what you're saying.

For me, it depends on the crime. I think murderers, rapists and child molesters should never be given the chance to reintegrate with society, so for them, jail works fine. IMHO, of course. And that was sorta who I was thinking about when I read that.

If you're talking, I don't know, robbery, or assault or something, then yeah, I guess prison doesn't solve anything. I mean, I can accept that first time offenders, who's crime is relatively small (don't ask me to measure what's small, and what isn't), deserve the chance not to do it again.

Continual abusers of the system though? What do you do if someone has no interest in being part of society?