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Brooke Kinsella Report

Brooke Kinsella’s Report, 'Tackling Knife Crime Together', took her to The Children's Society's Tees Valley Project; a project which practices a variety of restorative practices focusing mainly on victim-offender mediation for offenders aged 10-18. Although initially sceptical about Restorative Justice, visiting the project and hearing the stories of people who have been through the process lead Brooke to see the positive impact Restorative Justice can have.

Ms Kinsella reports that Restorative Justice could be an effective way of helping offenders to fully understand and accept responsibility for the crime they have committed, making them less likely to re-offend. She draws attention to the potential benefits for victims, maintaining that restorative justice is a way of giving victims a greater sense of closure as they have the chance to have their voices heard. The report also points out that for crimes such as rape and domestic abuse restorative justice could work to reduce senses of fear and guilt that victims of these offences often feel.

See pages 20-22 (full report) and page 4 (executive summary)

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7th Feb 2011

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