Restorative Justice, Apology, Restitution, and Forgiveness
Operating from a retributive approach, the current criminal justice system (CJS) often does not appear to value the well-being of victims. As an alternative approach, restorative justice values the well-being of victims and provides opportunities that can foster forgiveness compared to a retributive approach. London (2011) has linked the importance of forgiveness to the emotional and psychological well-being of victims. Using London’s (2006; 2011), this research aims to provide insight into what factors affect an individual’s willingness to forgive an offender. In doing so, this may improve and expand on how the Canadian CJS is able to serve the needs of victims and improve their well-being. University of Regina students were surveyed regarding factors that may increase their willingness to forgive an offender following two separate hypothetical crime scenarios. Data were collected on the demographics, participants’ support for either a retributive or restorative paradigm, and whether participants were victim- or offender-focused. The demographic variables of ethnicity, gender, and religiousness did not indicate any positive relationships with participants’ willingness to forgive. When analyzing paradigmatic support, participants indicated uncertainty as they supported both restorative and retributive values. However, no relationship was identified between restorative- and retributive-focused and participants’ willingness to forgive. Victim- or offender-focused also showed no relationship with participants’ willingness to forgive. In conclusion, a lack of factors associated with a victim’s willingness to forgive were identified, suggesting that future research is needed to better understand what increases a victim’s willingness to forgive an offender. An unanticipated outcome was the lack of definitiveness regarding restorative and retributive perspectives on the CJS. This may suggest the beginning of a paradigmatic shift – from retributive to restorative – in how individuals approach justice, but warrants further research. Restorative justice is not a new approach, but the results of this study indicated that the ideologies and elements that support restorative justice may be becoming more mainstream.
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Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina