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2003 Utah L. Rev. 167 (2003)
A Third Voice: A Review of Empirical Research on the Psychological Outcomes of Restorative Justice

handle is hein.journals/utahlr2003 and id is 177 raw text is: A Third Voice: A Review of Empirical Research on the Psychological Outcomes of Restorative Justice Barton Poulson* Within the field of restorative justice, at least three voices may be heard: the voice of theory, the voice ofpractice, and the voice of research, which is the focus of this Article. Data from seven evaluation studies of restorative justice and court programs from around the world are combined on twelve psychological outcomes, such as judgments offairness, accountability, increased respect, and reductions in fear. Despite substantial differences in the implementation of the restorative justice programs and the persons and cases included, the data were remarkably consistent: restorative justice outperformed court procedures on almost every variable for victims and offenders. In addition, connections between the benefits of restorative justice and recent psychiatric research on youth suicide are sketched, with the possible benefits of restorative justice (as compared to court) in saving lives. Overall, restorative justice emerged as a compelling and effective alternative to court in all measured outcomes. I. INTRODUCTION A single musical voice can carry a musical tune. With several complementary voices, however, harmony and counterpoint can add to the richness and depth, creating a qualitatively distinct experience. A similar, enriching complementarity can also be found in restorative justice, where the voices of theory, practice, and research can contrast and support one another, leading to a broader and more useful understanding of restorative justice. Restorative justice, briefly defined, is an approach to postcrime reparation that focuses on healing the harm done, promoting accountability and personal responsibility, and encouraging the active participation of the victim, offender, and other concerned parties. Restorative justice fundamentally views crime as a violation against a person rather than against an abstract state or law.' It has been practiced for centuries in various forms of indigenous justice and has more recently become formally incorporated in practices such as victim-offender mediation, family group conferencing, sentencing circles, community reparation boards, and other postcrime forms.' In its essence, restorative justice involves the *Department of Behavioral Science, Utah Valley State College. This Article was prepared while I was in the Department of Psychology, Brigham Young University. E-mail: poulsoba@uvsc.edu. 'MARK S. UMBREIT, VICTIM MEETS OFFENDER 2-5 (1994); HOWARD ZEHR, CHANGING LENSES: A NEW FOCUS FOR CRIME AND JUSTICE 181 (1990). 2UMBREIT, supra note 1, at 5, 9, 25.