Restorative Justice in Pittsburgh

Few people could argue that our present criminal justice system is not in trouble.  More people are in prison than ever before while there is little evidence that crime is improving overall. The whole concept of throwing someone into prison (or some other system designed to punish) as soon as they commit an offense does not seem to be achieving justice for all and making society safer.  Alternative approaches are clearly needed.

Restorative Justice is one alternative to the punishment-based approach to justice.  The basic premise of Restorative Justice is to repair the damage that has resulted from an offense.  All of the parties involved (including the victim and the perpetrator) together determine the best way to fix the damage caused by the offense.  This approach is designed to allow the people who have harmed others to take responsibility for their actions and to allow everyone affected by an offense to be part of making a safer community.

The Pittsburgh Mediation Center has three programs implementing the concepts of Restorative Justice. The programs are called Victim Offender Mediation, Community Action Panel and Restorative Justice in the Schools.

All the Restorative Justice programs at the Center are involved presently with the juvenile justice system.  The Victim Offender Mediation Program provides victims of crimes the opportunity to meet the juvenile offender in a safe and structured setting.  The goal is to hold the offenders accountable for their actions while also giving compensation for the victims.  The Community Action Panel is comprised of community members who meet with first time juvenile offenders and discuss their offenses.  The panel also focuses on holding the juveniles responsible for their actions and on developing appropriate responses for the offenses.  The Restorative Justice in the Schools is a pilot program currently working with Peabody High School and East Junior High to develop Restorative Justice programs in those schools.

Each of the programs are designed to address the three fundamental premises of Restorative Justice. The first premise is that the people who are harmed by an offense have the desire to express their needs to the people who caused the harm.  The second premise is the people who caused harm need to be held accountable for their actions.  The third premise is that “all people involved in, or affected by, the harming incident should have the opportunity to participate in a process to determine appropriate responses to the harm.” These premises are listed in the materials provided by the Pittsburgh Mediation Center. 

But does Restorative Justice work?  The concepts certainly sound nice but are they actually effective at reaching the goal of justice for everyone in a community?  This would, of course, depend on how the word “effective” is defined.  But there is strong evidence that many of the things people expect from an offender program are accomplished at least as well in a Restorative Justice program as in punishment-based programs.

One of the most extensive reviews on the effectiveness of Restorative Justice was written by Paul McCord in a chapter of the book “Repositioning Restorative Justice: Restorative Justice, Criminal Justice and Social Context.”  McCold is the Director of Research at the International Institute for Restorative Practices. A summary of his paper can be found at the institute’s website (www.iirp.org).

McCord reviewed 30 years of evaluations of Restorative Justice programs from 1971 to 2001 that included over a hundred different groups of people. One of his findings was that reoffender rates for Restorative Justice programs were no higher than they were for other types of criminal justice programs.  In fact, reoffending rates following Restorative Justice programs were actually found to be lower for crimes that involved offenses against people.  In addition, both victims and offenders tended to rate Restorative Justice programs as being more fair than programs involving court hearings and/or punishment.  Several of the more recent studies reviewed by McCord had fairness and satisfaction rates from both offenders and victims above 95 percent.

Another a recent study looked at a program used in the juvenile justice system in Honolulu.  This program was similar in many ways to those used at the Pittsburgh Mediation Center.  The study’s results showed that re-arrest rates for offenders participating in the program were lower than they were for participants in other programs (although these were specifically for non-violent offenders).  Victims who participated in the program also reported a high degree of satisfaction.

What this material shows is that Restorative Justice is an approach to criminal and other types of interpersonal offenses that may be a legitimate alternative to some types of punishment-based approaches. Certainly there is discussion even among the proponents of Restorative Justice about how best to use the programs and how far they can go.  Some proponents see limits to the approaches (e.g. only for use with nonviolent offenders) while others see it as a possible replacement for virtually all present-day criminal justice programs. But it does seem that right now Restorative Justice might offer some help overcoming the limits associated with punishment as a “one-size fits all” approach to justice.

If you would like to find out more about the local Restorative Justice programs you can call the Pittsburgh Mediation Center at 412-365-0400.  Right now, the Restorative Justice in the Schools program is seeking volunteers specifically in the neighborhoods using Peabody High School and East Junior High.  Dawn Lehman (extension 208) is the contact person for this program. You can also call the main number and ask for the appropriate contact if you are interested in either of the other two programs.

- Daniel Marston has lived in Western Pennsylvania for most of his life.  He has experience in the areas of business, healthcare and social services and has written on a number of topics relevant to progressive issues.  He likes reading and beer.