Effectiveness, Efficiency and Impact in Restorative Justice: Navigating the Subjective and Objective to Evidence Success

Abstract

The international debate around institutionalisation in restorative justice reveals tensions in service evaluation between maximalist definitions advocating for professionalisation within criminal justice systems and purist definitions aiming to disrupt traditional justice systems. Evaluations offer important metrics for understanding success, but academics argue that these metrics misalign with restorative justice values. These were highlighted by academics, practitioners and those with lived experience at the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group on Restorative Justice inquiry. This research explores the criteria practitioners use to define success, builds on the inquiry recommendation and adds to academic literature by using thematic analysis of questionnaire survey data from professionals to explore their definitions of effectiveness, efficiency and impact in restorative justice. This paper aims to understand how institutionalisation impacts practitioners’ definitions and where lived experience challenges or offers new success metrics. It highlights the multi-faceted nature of success in restorative justice and identifies potential methods for evidencing success.