Reparation in the UK: Dominant Themes and Neglected Themes

Abstract

Reparation schemes in England and Wales pursue a variety of aspirations, not all of them compatible with one another. The principal raison d’être of the schemes whose practice we observed was not reparation by offender to victim but, on behalf of the offender, diversion from prosecution or mitigation of the court’s penalty. There was little or no interest in effecting material reparation. As a consequence, schemes adopted various strategies to deal with the difficulty they perceived in selling that dubious product: non-material reparation with the inducement of a sentencing discount. Staff at the Coventry scheme, which I describe, sought to overcome this problem through rigorous testing of the offender’s attitudes and motivation. As well as seeking to mitigate the court’s penalty, there was a genuine attempt at offender attitude change but this was not achieved through a negotiation, and arguments between victim and offender were marked by an air of unease and “performance,” with one or both parties appearing embarrassed and unsure as to what was expected of them. There was generally no sense of the two sides being involved in an on-going dispute.