Eastern European countries have been working hard to develop restorative justice, and Poland has been one of the leaders. From 2004—07 an exchange programme was funded by the Polish Academy of Sciences and the British Academy. Each year a small group of academics and practitioners visited their opposite numbers, to see programmes in action and speak at conferences and workshops at the Home Office, the University of Sheffield, and the Polish Academy of Sciences. The final seminar was held at the British Academy in conjunction with the Restorative justice Consortium. The Polish Centre for Mediation has been active in promoting the use of volunteer mediators, and now has branches in 20 Polish cities. Research on the pilot projects has also been published. Both groups found the visits informative and interesting. The British planning committee was chaired by Professor David Miers, of Cardiff University Law School, who has now collected the papers presented during the exchange. The final report can be downloaded here

USA

Community Peacemaking Project: Responding to Hate Crimes, Hate Incidents, Intolerance and Violence Through Restorative Justice Dialogue
Umbreit, M., Coates, R.B., Vos, B. 2002.COMMUNITY PEACEMAKING PROJECT: Responding to Hate Crimes, Hate Incidents, Intolerance and Violence Through Restorative Justice Dialogue. St. Paul, MN: Center for Restorative Justice & Peacemaking, University of Minnesota.

Centre for Restorative Justice & Peacemaking 
Research & Resources Review. November, 1999
Includes a table listing Victim Offender Mediation Empirical Studies, and a second table listing Family Group Conferencing Studies.

To view a number of other restorative justice research projects and papers (Completed by Umbreit, M and Umbreit, M et al) visit the Centre for Restorative Justice and Peace Making 

Restorative Conferences reduce Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, 15 August 2006

A controlled study on the effects of restorative conferencing on victims of crime has shown that it reduces post-traumatic stress symptoms. The study was performed by Dr. Caroline M. Angel, a lecturer in criminology at the Jerry Lee Center of Criminology at the University of Pennsylvania, USA. As significant as it is unusual, the study took a clinical approach, finding that conferencing had measurable positive effects on the emotional health of victims of crime. This story, by Abbey J. Porter, provides information about the study, as well as comments from Dr. Angel, a dual-doctorate recipient in nursing and criminology.