University of Twente Student Theses
What Factors affect the Public's Willingness for Restorative Justice Programs?
Weidner, Alessa (2024) What Factors affect the Public's Willingness for Restorative Justice Programs?
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| Abstract: | Recent developments in the Dutch criminal justice system align with the model of restorative justice which aims at repairing the damage done by an offense and involving offender, victim, and the public in the process. Even though, the public is expected to take an active part in restorative justice programs, there is a gap in research about the factors affecting the willingness of the public to participate in such programs. Therefore, this study aimed at exploring what factors might affect the willingness for participation of the public. It was expected that crime seriousness negatively affects the public’s willingness for participation. On the other hand, offender identification, mediated by attribution style and offender empathy were expected to positively affect willingness. To test these hypotheses an online survey was done where participants were randomly distributed to one of two differently serious burglary scenarios. Then they were asked to indicate the extent to which they agree with different statements to measure the above- mentioned constructs. Lastly, participants were informed about restorative justice and asked to indicate their willingness to participate in a restorative justice program. The study yielded no effects of crime seriousness or offender identification, mediated by attribution style on willingness, which suggests that the public may be willing to participate in these programs even in more serious cases and when identification with the offender is unlikely. There was a positive effect found of offender empathy on willingness which highlights the importance of information shared with the public about the offense and offender. Despite the limitations of this study, the study starts filling a research gap about the public’s willingness and thereby gives suggestions for the broader implementation of restorative justice with respect to the public. This research reveals insights into the factors that affect the public’s willingness and therefore highlights the potential of restorative justice to improve the criminal justice system. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Bachelor) |
| Faculty: | BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences |
| Subject: | 77 psychology |
| Programme: | Psychology BSc (56604) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/100463 |
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