Some argue that one the biggest crisis in the criminal justice system is the lack of public confidence in its effectiveness. Generally the public expresses concerns about polices that appear "soft" on crime but public opinion polls reveal contradictory stories that suggest a distinction between people's values and the norms that they adopt. Indeed, the only major research done to date suggests that the public do support "restorative" outcomes for less serious crimes.
Given the centrality of the "community" to restorative justice principles, public opinion and support is critical for it to work effectively. This project will both help shape the public's knowledge of RJ, in general, and the NS program, in particular, and investigate how the public react to RJ principles and practices. We hope to focus broadly on how the public conceives of "doing justice" rather than how they react to particular sentencing outcomes.
Literature Review
We have compiled a very brief summary of literature that was reviewed as part of this project. For more details see the link to our complete bibliography by searching for the keyword "Public Opinion" in our RefWorks database.
Town Halls 2007
This document provides a summary of the discussions that took place at our Town Halls in Sydney and Millbrook in the Fall of 2007.
RJ Re-enactment Video
During the Syndey Town Hall, some local high school student put on a skit re-enacting a typical RJ Session.
