Apology in restorative justice: exploring the influence of victim presence and apology coercion

Search Swinburne Research Bank

Home

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.3/238138

Title: Apology in restorative justice: exploring the influence of victim presence and apology coercion
Author(s): Saulnier, Alana; Sivasubramaniam, Diane
Abstract: Offenders in some restorative justice (RJ) programs are required to apologize or return to court, even when victims cannot attend the RJ procedure. Apologizing results in several benefits to apologizers, but this coercion and lack of victim presence may reduce those benefits. Participants took part in a deceptive live study designed to elicit false confessions and subsequent apologies, manipulating coercion (Coerced, Not coerced) and victim presence (Actual, Surrogate, Ambiguous). Findings indicate that victim presence and coercion significantly impact outcome benefits for apologizers, including perceptions of transgression finality and procedural fairness judgments. Implications for RJ programs are discussed.
Publication type: Conference paper
Research centre: Swinburne University of Technology
Source: Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the American Psychology-Law Society, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 14-17 March 2012
Publication year: 2012
Keyword(s): Coercion; Procedural fairness; Restorative justice programs; Victim presence
Publisher: American Psychology-Law Society
Publisher URL: http://www.ap-ls.org/conferences/apls2012/index2012.php
Peer reviewed