The Influence of Belief in Offender Redeemability and Decision‐Making Competence on Receptivity to Restorative Justice

Abstract

Restorative justice (RJ) processes offer a way to address multifaceted harms caused by wrongdoing. Yet, questions remain about people’s attitudes toward restorative processes such as victim–offender conferences (VOCs) and the factors that influence those attitudes. This study examined whether beliefs about youth and adult redeemability and decisionmaking competence influence perceptions of justice outcomes, VOC effectiveness, VOC appropriateness, VOC support, and VOC participation willingness. Analysis of survey data gathered from 207 participants through Amazon MTurk suggests that perceived redeemability and to a lesser extent decision-making competence significantly shape outcomeand process-related beliefs and evaluations. Namely, the more people believe that offenders are redeemable, the more they are likely to support restorative outcomes, perceive VOCs to be effective and appropriate, support the use of VOCs, and be willing to participate in a VOC. The study’s findings are useful for potentially shaping people’s understanding of and support for RJ.