Restorative justice and recidivism

Abstract

This paper is a review study that sought to synthesize the available evidence on the possible impacts of restorative approaches on criminal recidivism. We searched the platforms Springer, Scopus and Google Scholar with the term’s restorative justice, criminal recidivism, systematic review, grouped with the Boolean indicator AND. We selected the papers considered the most influential by Springer and Scopus platforms, five in total. Then, using the Publish or Perish software, selected an additional three papers in terms of relevance from Google Scholar in the period of the last five years We found positive evidence of recidivism reduction regarding the Restorative Justice Conferences approach, which enables meetings between offenders, victims or family members and community members that are, however, quite distinct depending on some moderators. Based on the findings, we recommend the development of the approach in institutionalized settings with a focus on people involved in more serious conflicts.