What is the recidivism rate for restorative justice?
A precise recidivism rate or even range is difficult to provide due to the many program types that fall under the rubric of restorative justice. Further, various definitions of “recidivism” have been used by different programs (e.g., police contacts, prosecutorial charges, or reconvictions). Also, it takes a long time period to allow for program participants to age out of the period of highest risk for re-offense. For these reasons, there is less information available on recidivism than for satisfaction and procedural outcomes of restorative conferencing. The available information indicates that restorative justice does lower the rate of re-offending. As long as the rate is no worse, many believe that it is more important to focus on whether people felt they were treated fairly, were heard, believed that the plan developed adequately addressed the harm caused by the crime, and derived moral satisfaction from the program.
