Framing Justice: Public Perceptions of Sentencing Goals and Support for Restoration (Dutch language proficiency required)

In criminal justice systems today, sentencing can have different goals: retribution, prevention, and restoration. Of these, retribution and prevention are well-known. Think about typically court hearings, in which an offender receives a punishment such as a community or prison sentence. However, in recent years restorative justice and rehabilitation have received more attention in research and policy discussions, which has led for example to the incorporation of restorative practices in the Dutch criminal justice system. That is, that mediation between victims and suspects can be part of the criminal justice procedure (see link). The aim of restorative justice is not to punish the offender, but to restore the damage that has been done, by engaging victim, offender and the community in restorative actions taken in the aftermath of a crime (Hansen & Umbreit, 2018). 

When it comes to reacting to crime, it is important to take into account the opinion of the public as well, because the legitimacy of criminal sanctions depends also on whether citizens understand and support the purposes of punishment. However, there is still little knowledge about how well the public knows about the above mentioned sentencing goals, and how their opinions are affected when the goals are presented in different ways (Malsch et al., 2024). 

It is especially relevant to study public knowledge and attitudes now, because restorative justice is becoming increasingly important in practice. If the public does not support such goals, or if their views are based on incorrect assumptions, then the implementation of restorative practices can be difficult. On the other hand, if we can see under which conditions citizens are more open to restoration and restorative practices, policymakers and practitioners can use this knowledge to make criminal justice responses more effective and legitimate. 

For this study a questionnaire has already been developed, and we are considering doing a field experiment among Dutch civilians to see when and how they might support restoration more as an important sentencing goal in Dutch criminal cases. However, before we gather data among a representative sample, we want to pilot test our materials. As an intern you will contribute to preparing and running this pilot study, helping to ensure that the questionnaire and experimental materials are clear, reliable, and ready for large-scale data collection. 

Specifically, you will: 

• assist in reviewing and improving the clarity and structure of the questionnaire and framing materials; 
• help set up and test the online survey environment and experimental conditions; 
• support the recruitment of pilot participants and monitor data collection; 
• clean and organize pilot data and assist with preliminary analyses; 
• summarize pilot results and help formulate recommendations to improve the final study design. 

Sanctioning; public perception; justice goals; restorative justice 

The section Psychology of Conflict, Risk and Safety at the University of Twente has a distinctive and unique profile in the areas of risk perception and risk communication, conflict and crisis management and the antecedents of risky, antisocial and criminal behaviour. It currently includes 15 research staff members and 6 PhD students. We work from both a psychology and an engineering perspective and cooperate with other scientific disciplines, based on the “high tech, human touch” profile of the University of Twente.

Usually anytime. This internship is open for 1 student.

Please contact the internship coordinator Miriam Oostinga (m.s.d.oostinga@utwente.nl).  

• Hansen, T., & Umbreit, M. (2018). State of knowledge: Four decades of victim-offender  mediation research and practice: the evidence. Conflict Resolution Quarterly, 36(2), 99– 113. https://doi.org/10.1002/crq.21234 
• Malsch, M., Wit, J. De, & Bruin, B. De. (2024). Kennis en ervaring met het recht maakt burger  realistischer.
• Moss, S. A., Lee, E., Berman, A., & Rung, D. (2019). When do people value rehabilitation and  restorative justice over the punishment of offenders? Victims & Offenders, 14(1), 32- 51.
• Roberts, J. V., & Stalans, L. J. (2004). Restorative sentencing: Exploring the views of the public.  Social Justice Research, 17(3), 315-334.