Findings from a Scotland wide survey to raise people’s awareness and understanding of Restorative Justice have been published.
The survey – created by Community Justice Scotland (CJS) and the Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice (CYCJ) – featured an animation on Restorative Justice (RJ) in a Scottish context. People were asked to watch this and then comment on whether it helped raise their awareness and understanding of RJ.
This work was undertaken on behalf of the Scottish Government, to help meet the priorities of the Restorative Justice Action Plan. Both CYCJ and Community Justice Scotland are supporting this.
Over 300 people responded. The findings were positive and will inform future knowledge development and awareness raising methods as RJ services develop across Scotland.
An easy read version of the animation survey results can be accessed here. To obtain a full report, please contact rachael.moss@communityjustice.scot.
We would like to thank the animator, Graham Ogilvie, the Restorative Justice stakeholder group and @whymeUK, Youth Just Us and CJS for their contributions to the animation. Thank you also to everyone who took time to take part and share their views.
What is Restorative Justice?
Restorative Justice (RJ) emerged in the 1970s as an alternative to traditional justice processes.
“Restorative justice is a process of independent, facilitated contact, which supports constructive dialogue between a victim and a person who has harmed (whether this be an adult, a child, a young person or a representative of a corporate or other body) arising from an offence or alleged offence.”
The key to RJ is that it allows those with a stake in the outcome of a crime related intervention or conflict to communicate in a safe and structured way. This allows people to collaborate on a means to deal with the aftermath of an offence or conflict and its implications for the future.