Invention:
This invention is a restorative justice (RJ) conferencing program adapted to prosecutor-referred adult misdemeanor and felony sexual assaults.
RESTORE conferences included voluntary enrollment, preparation, and a face-to-face meeting where primary and secondary victims voice impacts, and responsible persons acknowledge their acts and together develop a re-dress plan that is supervised for 1 year.
Background:
The term restorative justice (RJ) subsumes a variety of approaches to wrong-doing including crimes and student misconduct. RJ approaches share the viewpoint that violation of law and conduct codes causes negative impacts beyond those to the direct victim.
Many RJ program formats exist such as sharing circles, victim–offender dialogue, victim impact panels, community reparation boards, circles of support, sentencing circles, and conferencing. Scholarly discourse on RJ for sexual assault has been hindered by lack of empirical data and is predominately conceptual and dialectic. Just as there are few conferencing programs designed for sexual assault, published evaluations are scarce.
RESTORE was a demonstration project and represents what was possible as a pioneering effort in its setting and with available resources. This method could be useful in states and departments that are willing to take action for the anti-sexual violence movement.
Applications:
- Restorative justice (RJ)
- Sexual misconduct
Advantages:
- Non-adversarial
- Community-based
