Is It Time to Put Offenders Before Victims If We Really Want a Safer Society?

Is it time to put offenders before victims if we really want a safer society?

Who should we prioritise and why in Restorative Justice? The first thing is to check what we are trying to do with Restorative Justice. What is most important for society?

To do this, I asked myself the question; “What is the point of Restorative Justice?” There are many answers to this question, I would like to focus on the idea that it is to make our society a better place to live for all, whether or not they are part of our society.

One of the things that makes for a better place to live is if there is less that happens that offends what is really important to us and less that damages what we really value. A shorthand way of saying this is that there is less crime.

How does RJ contribute to there being less crime?

When a crime has been committed, how does that event make it more or less likely that further crimes will be committed? Further crimes can be committed by: a) the criminal, b) the victim of the crime, c) someone else.

Who is most likely to commit a further crime as a result of the original crime? Is it most intelligent for society to focus its attention and resources on that person or someone else if it wants to reduce crime?

The only time it is sensible to focus the attention somewhere else is when that would change the conditions that influence the person to commit the crime (for instance dealing with poverty, deprivation, inadequate education, etc.) and that indirect work is more cost effective than dealing directly with the individual who is likely to commit the crime.

What makes someone likely to commit a crime? It is when, on balance, they believe that they are more likely to get what they want if they do than if they don’t commit the crime.

If your own experience of having committed a crime is that it is worth repeating or trying another crime, then something needs to be done to address this. If you have not committed a crime but have concluded that others have benefited more than it has cost them then you are going to be inspired to (be more likely to) commit a crime.

So, where does attending to the victims of crime fit with the desire to reduce crime? How does helping victims cope well with having had something bad happen to them reduce crime in our society?

Logic would say that it doesn’t in the majority of cases! – Except where there is a risk of a vengeance offence and / or the labels “victim” and “offender” are merely the products of who went to the law first in an ongoing feud.

There is no doubt that helping victims is worthwhile and important work, but it does very little directly to reduce crime, especially when the well-being of the victim is prioritised over the well-being of the offender.

If we want to make society safer, we need to focus on potential offenders – and those most likely to offend are the existing offenders.

The RJ community is missing something very important when it makes the concerns of the victims and their well-being more important than working with the offenders.

How do we make the wonderful and transformative work that we do with victims contribute more to the transformation of the offenders so that they come to realise that there are far better ways of getting what is really important to them (getting their “needs” met) than through crime? We must be aware that some of the way we bring victims and offenders together is more likely to induce self-loathing in the offender than to help them address the needs they are attempting to meet through their offending.

To some degree, we are wasting resources and ultimately damaging our credibility because we are not doing a crucial part of the work that needs to be done. There is a strong argument that we are actually unintentionally contributing to making our society less safe when we ignore this fact! It is time we woke up and prioritised that which makes the biggest difference in us all becoming safer.

Paul Baker is a conflict consultant and practitioner who is deeply concerned to contribute to the transformation to an increasingly sustainable society that cares as much for the well-being of those to come in future generations as for the well-being of those present. He is also a therapist and coach and cares passionately about individual development.