University of Denver Digital Commons @ DU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies 1-1-2010 The Implementation of Restorative Justice in Iceland: A Comparison of Police- and Expert-Led Conferencing Hafsteinn Gunnar Hafsteinsson University of Denver Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd Part of the Law Commons, and the Peace and Conflict Studies Commons Recommended Citation Hafsteinsson, Hafsteinn Gunnar, "The Implementation of Restorative Justice in Iceland: A Comparison of Police- and Expert-Led Conferencing" (2010). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 818. https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/818 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies at Digital Commons @ DU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ DU. For more information, please contact [email protected],[email protected]. The Implementation of Restorative Justice in Iceland: A Comparison of Police- and Expert-led Conferencing __________ A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the University of Denver University of Denver __________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Masters of Arts __________ by Hafsteinn Gunnar Hafsteinsson June 2010 Advisor: Tamra Pearson d’Estrée ©Copyright by Hafsteinn G. Hafsteinsson 2010 All rights reserved Abstract Author: Hafsteinn G. Hafsteinsson Title: The Implementation of Restorative Justice in Iceland: A Comparison of Police- and Expert-led Conferencing Advisor: Tamra Pearson d’Estrée Degree Date: June 2010 On first of October 2006 the Ministry of Justice in Iceland launch a restorative justice pilot project. Building on the pilot project data, this thesis evaluates the implementation of restorative justice into the criminal justice system in Iceland by asking victims, offenders and other participants in police- and expert-led conferencing to answer questionnaires’ relating to these two types of restorative justice practices to crime. The thesis compares its results with findings from a review conducted by Paul McCold (1998) who more than a decade ago challenged concerns on police facilitated conferencing. The data examined in the present thesis support Paul McCold’s findings that police officers are capable of conducting conferences in a highly restorative manner when dealing with minor degree offences and that conferencing is an effective restorative justice practice that should be encouraged when conducted by police officers or trained professionals. ii Acknowledgments I am immensely grateful for having met Paul McCold in 2005 when this project began, as it was he who informed me about police conferencing, introduced me to the most important literature and later helped me to acquire deeper insight into the restorative justice philosophy. I also want to deeply thank Dr. Tamra Pearson d’Estrée my thesis advisor and teacher at DU for introducing me to restorative justice, her highly qualified teachings and all-around professionalism. I also want to graciously thank Unnur, Kristján and Kristín for opening up their house to me and all a round support after my own house burned down in January 2009. A strong love and support has also poured from family and friends while finding my way to start and work on this project after my loving sister Sonja past away last fall. I would like to thank my loving sister Linda and her husband Ægir for always being there and my loving friend and nephew Andri for reminding me of what I can and have accomplished. My dear friend Elvar deserves more than a note as he is always willing and able to help when I ask. Last but not least I would like to thank Jonathan for his help on the thesis, Gabriella for her time spent proofreading my paper and Laura for allowing me to live in her house, use her car and even eat her food while working on my thesis in Denver, she is a true friend. iii Table of Contents ABSTRACT..................................................................................................................................................I ACKNOWLEDGMENT ........................................................................................................................... II TABLE OF CONTENT............................................................................................................................III INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................................... 1 REVIEW OF RELEVANT LITERATURE............................................................................................. 3 THE MEANING OR DEFINITION OF RESTORATIVE JUSTICE................................................... 5 THE ENCOUNTER CONCEPTION...........................................................................................7 THE REPARATIVE CONCEPTION ...........................................................................................9 THE TRANSFORMATIVE CONCEPTION OF RESTORATIVE JUSTICE ................................................12 VALUES OF RESTORATIVE JUSTICE .....................................................................................15 THE DICHOTOMY OF RESTORATIVE JUSTICE VS. RETRIBUTIVE JUSTICE ........................................17 IS THE MEANING OF RESTORATIVE JUSTICE DISTORTED BY THE RESTORATIVE VS. RETRIBUTIVE DICHOTOMY? ...............................................................................................................22 THE ROOTS OF RESTORATIVE JUSTICE....................................................................................... 33 RESTORATIVE JUSTICE PROCESSES AND PRACTICES ........................................................... 38 VICTIM-OFFENDER MEDIATION (VOM) ..............................................................................38 NEW ZEALAND STYLE FAMILY GROUP CONFERENCING (FGC) ..................................................40 AUSTRALIAN STYLE POLICE CONFERENCING.........................................................................41 THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN VICTIM-OFFENDER MEDIATION AND CONFERENCING47 TYPICALLY LARGER CIRCLES OF STAKEHOLDERS IN CONFERENCING...........................................48 NEUTRALITY, IMPARTIALITY AND FAIRNESS...........................................................................48 THE PREPARATION DIFFERENCES ......................................................................................52 THE CONFERENCING SCRIPT ............................................................................................53 RESTORATIVE JUSTICE PROGRAMS TYPOLOGY.......................................................................56 EVALUATION OF RESTORATIVE JUSTICE PROGRAMS........................................................... 61 REPORT ON RESTORATIVE JUSTICE EFFECTIVENESS AND QUALITY..............................................61 MEASURES OF PARTICIPANT’S SATISFACTION........................................................................62 MEASURES OF PARTICIPANT’S PERCEPTION OF FAIRNESS ........................................................65 THE PROBABILITY OF GENERATING AND COMPLETION OF RESTITUTION AGREEMENTS.....................66 APOLOGIES AND REVENGE...............................................................................................67 VICTIMS BEFORE AND AFTER FEELINGS OF FEAR, ANGER AND SYMPATHY. ...................................68 POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS SYMPTOMS...................................................................................71 DIVERSION: THE EFFECT OF RESTORATIVE JUSTICE IN CRIME PREVENTION..................................72 iv RECIDIVISM AFTER PROPERTY CRIME .................................................................................78 EVIDENCE SUMMARY ON RECIDIVISM..................................................................................80 MCCOLD’S EVALUATION OF POLICE-LED CONFERENCES ................................................... 84 INFORMATION ABOUT ICELAND, CRIME AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURES IN ICELAND95 BACKGROUND INFORMATION............................................................................................95 CRIME STATISTICS .........................................................................................................97 THE CONVENTIONAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE PROCEDURE IN ICELAND..............................................98 THE IMPLEMENTATION OF RESTORATIVE JUSTICE AND CONFERENCING IN ICELAND ................................................................................................................................................ 100 HOW RESTORATIVE JUSTICE DEVELOPED IN ICELAND ...........................................................100 WHY ICELAND APPLIED POLICE-LED CONFERENCING...........................................................103 EVALUATION OF POLICE- AND EXPERT-LED CONFERENCING......................................... 113 SUMMARY OF PRESENT RESEARCH ...................................................................................113 RESEARCH QUESTIONS..................................................................................................114 THE PILOT PROJECT ....................................................................................................116 METHOD ................................................................................................................................................ 120 EXPLANATIONS AND DEFINITIONS OF CONCEPTS .................................................................120