Restorative Justice guidance and protocols for practitioners working with young people and those harmed by their behaviour / Scottish Government, 11 June 2008
PDF - http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/06/10143757/6

Restorative justice and reoffending / Ministry of Justice, 16 June 2008
PDF - http://www.justice.gov.uk/docs/restorative-justice-report_06-08.pdf
Joanna Shapland et al
"This is the fourth report on the evaluation of three restorative justice schemes funded under the Home Office's Crime Reduction Programme from mid-2001. Earlier reports have examined how the schemes were implemented, participants' expectations and take-up rates and victims' and offenders' views on the process and outcomes. This fourth report focuses on one of the key original aims of the Home Office funding, whether restorative justice reduces reoffending and/or provides value for money. This is a key piece of work that adds to the evidence base on 'what works' to reduce reoffending."

Pilot scheme to address young offenders / Ministry of Justice, 11 December 2007
http://www.justice.gov.uk/news/newsrelease111207.htm
"A new scheme to deal with first-time young offenders who have committed a minor offence will be piloted early next year. The scheme aims to stop them going to court unnecessarily, while at the same time ensuring that they make amends for their offence via an apology to the victim. The Youth Restorative Justice Disposal will ensure that first time offenders aged between 10 and 17 who have committed a low-level minor offence have to explain their actions and apologise to their victim. The apology could be given in either oral or written form."

In the shadow of penal law: Victim—offender mediation in Germany and France
Punishment & Society, Vol. 9, No. 4, 395-415 (2007)
http://pun.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/9/4/395?rss=1
Stefanie Tränkle
"This article aims to demonstrate that German and French Victim-Offender Mediation schemes (VOM), in contrary to mainstream opinion, do not seem to work but face enormous problems, which prevent the procedure from putting into practice its intended aims. In her qualitative study on VOM, the author evaluated the interaction process between participants and mediators from a micro-sociological point of view. Based on that evaluation, it is suggested that VOM is not able to put into practice its specific modus operandi within the framework of a penal procedure."
[Sub required]

Learning a lesson from Moses
Church Times, Issue 7547, 2 November 2007
http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/content.asp?id=46680
"When an offender is brought face to face with his victim, and held to account, the results can be surprising. Brian Draper looks at a new approach to justice. “I HAVE A DREAM,” intones the gentle, bespectacled man at the podium."
[Sub required]

The Spiritual Components of Restorative Justice
Victims & Offenders, Volume 2, Issue 3 July 2007 , pages 251 - 267
http://digbig.com/4tses
Kimberly Bender ; Marilyn Armour
"The concept of spirituality in restorative justice practice is recognised as important but is often fuzzy and vaguely understood. This study did a content analysis of restorative justice texts and found nine distinct components of spirituality: transformation, connectedness/belonging, common human bond, repentance, forgiveness, making right a wrong, balance/harmony, rituals, and unexplained spiritual phenomenon. The conceptual clarification of the relationship between spirituality and restorative justice gives mediators/facilitators of restorative justice dialogue more tools to deepen their interactions with victims, offenders, and community members. Furthermore, delineation of these nine components offers researchers a framework for the development of instruments or tools that can be used to assess participants' experiences in restorative justice dialogues."
[Sub required]

"Yardsticks" for Victim Sensitive Process: Principle-Based Standards for Gauging the Integrity of Restorative Justice Process
Victims & Offenders, Volume 2, Issue 3 July 2007 , pages 289 - 301
http://digbig.com/4tsep
Gordon Bazemore ; Diane L. Green
[Sub required]

How Green was Thames Valley?: Policing the Image of Restorative Justice Cautions
Policing and Society, Volume 17, Issue 2 June 2007 , pages 141 - 163
http://digbig.com/4tqte
Aidan Wilcox; Richard Young
"In 1994, Thames Valley Police (in the UK) began experimenting with restorative justice cautioning, in the Milton Keynes area. Other pilot programmes (most notably in Aylesbury) soon followed. The initiative was enthusiastically promoted by the then Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police, Sir Charles Pollard. One of his central claims was that re-offending rates had declined from 30% to 4% in Aylesbury as a result of restorative cautioning. This remarkable claim was instrumental in persuading key individuals, both within and outside Thames Valley Police, that greater use should be made of restorative methods within criminal justice. This paper subjects that claim to empirical scrutiny (and finds it baseless) as well as exploring what this episode reveals about the nature of relations between the police and the media."
[Sub required]

Youth justice: Make amends / YP Magazine, 11 July 2007
http://www.ypnmagazine.com/news/index.cfm?fuseaction=full_news&ID=14860
Andy Hillier
"Reports on young offenders in Wandsworth who are repairing bikes and restoring victims' faith in justice."

Restorative Justice at Work: Examining the Impact of Restorative Justice Resolutions on Juvenile Recidivism
Crime & Delinquency, Vol. 53, No. 3, 355-379 (2007)
http://cad.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/53/3/355
Nancy Rodriguez
"Programs with restorative justice ideals attempt to incorporate victims and community members into the administration of justice. Although these programs have become increasingly popular, only a few programs in the United States have been the focus of prior studies. Using official juvenile court data from an urban, metropolitan area, this study finds that juveniles who participated in a restorative justice program were less likely to reoffend than juveniles in a comparison group."

Restorative justice practice: An examination of program completion and recidivism
Journal of Criminal Justice Volume 35, Issue 3, May-June 2007, Pages 337-347
http://digbig.com/4temm
Kimberly de Beus and Nancy Rodriguez
[Sub required]

[New Zealand] Restorative justice for killer dogs' owner NZPA / stuff.co.nz, 4 July 2007
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4117527a11.html?source=RSSnationalnews_20070704
"The owner of two dogs that attacked and killed his aunt today had his sentencing delayed two while he goes through the restorative justice programme."

Restorative Justice: the views of victims and offenders the third report from the evaluation of three schemes / Ministry of Justice, 19 June 2007
PDF - http://www.justice.gov.uk/Restorative-Justice.pdf
Ministry of Justice Series 3/07
Joanna Shapland, Anne Atkinson, Helen Atkinson et al
Centre for Criminological Research, University of Sheffield

Restorative Justice: The Evidence: Report Draws Attention to RJ in the UK / Real Justice, 16 May 2007
PDF - http://fp.enter.net/restorativepractices/rjevidence.pdf
Joshua Wachtel

Restorative justice: the evidence / The Smith Institute, 2007
PDF - http://www.smith-institute.org.uk/pdfs/RJ_full_report.pdf
Lawrence W Sherman and Heather Strang
"This report follows a modified UK Cabinet Office format of unpacking the content like a website: a one-page abstract, a three-page executive summary, and a detailed introductory section that summarises the findings of the full report. This format enables the users of the document to read – or circulate – either the abstract alone, the abstract plus the three-page executive summary, the abstract plus the introductory overview (section 1) of the full report, or the entire document. This format is designed to provide different levels of detail for different kinds of readers, and to support the different ways in which information is digested for different stages and levels of discussion and decision making."

Own up and make up / Guardian, 27 March 2007
http://digbig.com/4sbrj
Jerome Monahan
"Cherie Booth has called for restorative justice to be expanded. Some schools already know it works"

[Scotland] Violent criminals to say sorry to victims in prison / Herald, 26 March 2007
http://digbig.com/4sbcy
LUCY ADAMS
"Prisoners who have been convicted of serious assault, robbery and housebreaking will be given the opportunity to meet and apologise to their victims under new plans to curb reoffending.
Victims and relatives will be contacted to see if they are willing to have prison meetings with criminals who have committed a range of serious crimes."

Justice project could go UK wide / BBC News [Wales], 14 March 2007
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/6448915.stm
"A Cardiff prison scheme which brings together offenders and victims of crime has proved so successful it could be extended across the UK."

Staging restorative justice encounters against a criminal justice backdrop : A dramaturgical analysis
Criminology and Criminal Justice, Vol. 7, No. 1, 5-32 (2007)
http://crj.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/7/1/5
James Dignan et al [Sub required]

Justifying Restorative Justice: A TheoreticalJustification for the Use of Restorative Practices / RealJustice, February 2007
PDF - http://fp.enter.net/restorativepractices/justifyingrj.pdf
Zvi D. Gabbay
"Analyzes the premises of the main theories of punishment that influencesentencing policies in Western countries and compares them to the basic values of restorative justice. Using concrete examples from the author's own experience, the paper explains how restorative justice practices contribute new and deeper meaning to the basic notions and values of retribution and deterrence, thereby improving and promotingsociety's response to crime."

Investigating issues relating to youth crime in Eastern Europe and Chile / LifeChange, January 2007
http://www.lifechangeuk.com/churchill.htm
Trevor Philpott
"I visited 6 countries (Estonia, Hungary, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Chile). My aim was to briefly research issues surrounding the socio economic situation in each country, its impact upon youth crime and what each Government was attempting to do to reduce re-offending. It consists of an Executive summary and 6 seperate annexes, one for each country. I particularly draw your attention to some innovative work in Slovenia and the drive to promote Restorative Justice in Ukraine."
PDF links
The Executive Summary
Visit to Estonia
Visit to Hungary
Visit to Ukraine
Visit to Bulgaria
Visit to Slovenia
Visit to Chile