Several hundred U.S. conflict resolution and restorative justice programs are addressing community violence using neutral facilitation to help people in conflict, or those who have experienced a crime, to talk things out face-to-face and come up with self-determined solutions. Very little quantitative intervention research has been conducted on the capacity of these programs to reduce violence, violent crime, and criminal recidivism. The scientific literature pertaining to the association of conflict resolution interventions with violence prevention are identified, screened, and sorted. Study design, sampling, measurement, and analyses are assessed using objective standards. Individual criminal recidivism outcomes and neighborhood gun violence rates are charted. In the 10 included studies, disparate conflict resolution and restorative justice interventions each appears to be related to modest reductions in individual criminal recidivism for participants, when compared with standard criminal justice system treatment. Conflict interruption interventions show a decrease in neighborhood gun violence in most districts. Future studies of conflict resolution and violence should mitigate selection bias, control for possibly confounding factors, operationalize all intervention components, select the correct units of analyses, and link “what works” outcome data to “how it works” intervention data. Four key gaps include measuring self-reported violence, including victimization, studying adults, and examining “upstream” interventions.
AdamsB. N. (1966). Coercion and consensus theories: Some unresolved issues. American Journal of Sociology, 6, 714.
2.
AlbertsJ. K.HeisterkampB. L.McPheeR. M. (2005). Disputant perceptions of and satisfaction with a community mediation program. The International Journal of Conflict Management16(3), 218–244.
*ArmourM. P.SageJ.RubinA.WindsorL. C. (2005). Bridges to life: Evaluation of an in-prison restorative justice intervention. Medicine and Law, 24(4), 831–851.
5.
BergM. T. (2012). The overlap of violent offending and violent victimization: Assessing the evidence and explanations. In DeLisiM.ConisP. J., (Eds.). Violent offenders: Theory, research, policy, and practice (pp. 17–38). Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
6.
BergM. T.LoeberR. (2011). Examining the neighborhood context of the violent offending-victimization relationship: A prospective investigation. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 27(4), 427–451.
7.
BerkowitzL.MacaulayJ. (1971). The contagion of criminal violence. Sociometry, 34, 238–260.
8.
BoxG. E. P.TiaoG. C. (1975). Intervention analysis with applications to economic and environmental problems. Journal of American Statistical Association, 70 (1), 70–79.
9.
BraithwaiteJ. (1989). Crime, Shame and Reintegration. Cambridge University Press.
10.
Bureau of Justice Statistics. (2005). Recidivism of prisoners released in 30 states in 2005: Patterns from 2005 to 2010—Update. Retrieved July 18, 2017, fromhttp://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=4986
11.
ButtsJ. A.RomanC. G.BostwickL.PorterJ. R. (2015). Cure violence: A public health model to reduce gun violence. Annual Review of Public Health, 36, 39–53.
12.
CharkoudianL. (2005). A quantitative analysis of the effectiveness of community mediation in decreasing repeat police calls for service. Conflict Resolution Quarterly, 23(1), 87–98.
13.
CharkoudianL. (2010). Giving police and courts a break: The effect of community mediation on decreasing the use of police and court resources. Conflict Resolution Quarterly, 28(2), 142–155.
14.
CharkoudianL.BilickM. (2015). State of knowledge: Community mediation at a crossroads. Conflict Resolution Quarterly, 32(3), 233–276.
15.
CharkoudianL.CosgroveB. L.FerrellD. P.FlowerS. M. (2012). The role of family and pro-social relationships in reducing recidivism. Corrections Today, 74(4), 94–97.
16.
CharkoudianL.EisenbergD. T.WalterJ. L. (2017). What difference does ADR make? Comparison of ADR and trial outcomes in small claims court. Conflict Resolution Quarterly, 35(1), 7–45.
17.
CharkoudianL.WalterJ. L.EisenbergD. T. (2018). What works in custody mediation? Effectiveness of various mediator behaviors. Family Court Review, 56(4), 544–571.
18.
ChristieN. (1977). Conflicts as property. British Journal of Criminology, 17(1), 1–15.
19.
CorbettJ. R.CorbettW. E. H. (2013). Volunteer mediators: The composition, contribution and consequence of ADR altruists. Advancing ADR. http://www.advancingdr.org/volunteers
20.
DahlbergL. L.ToalS. B.SwahnM.BehrensC. B. (2005). Measuring violence-related attitudes, behaviors, and influences among youths: A compendium of assessment tools (2nd ed.), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.
EmeryR.Laumann-BillingsL.WaldronM.SbarraD.DillonP. (2001). Child custody mediation and litigation: Custody, contact, and co-parenting 12 years after initial dispute resolution. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 69(2), 323–332.
23.
*FlowerS. (2014). Re-entry mediation in-depth recidivism analysis. Choice Research Associates.
24.
*GilliganJ.LeeB. (2005). The resolve to stop the violence project: Reducing violence in the community through a jail-based initiative. Journal of Public Health, 27(2), 143–148.
25.
GottfredsonM. R. (1981). On the etiology of criminal victimization. The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 72(2), 714–726.
HessickC. B. (2007). Violence between lovers, strangers, and friends. Washington University Law Review, 85, 343.
28.
HindelangM. J. (1976). Criminal victimization in eight American cities: A descriptive analysis of common theft and assault. Ballinger.
29.
JenningsW. G.PiqueroA. R.ReingleJ. M. (2012). On the overlap between victimization and offending: A review of the literature. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 17(1), 16–26.
30.
KauferL.NollD. E.MayerJ. (2015). Prisoner-facilitated mediation: Bringing peace to prisons and communities. Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution, 16, 187–219.
31.
*KossM. P. (2014). The RESTORE program of restorative justice for sex crimes: Vision, process, and outcomes. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 29(9), 1623–1660.
32.
KossM. P.BacharK. J.HopkinsC. Q.CarlsonC. (2004). Expanding a community’s justice response to sex crimes through advocacy, prosecutorial, and public health collaboration: Introducing the RESTORE program. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 19(12), 1435–1463. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260504269703
KrugE. G.MercyJ. A.DahlbergL. L.ZwiA. B. (2002). The world report on violence and health. The Lancet, 360(9339), 1083–1088.
35.
LauritsenJ. L.LaubJ. H. (2007). Understanding the link between victimization and offending: New reflections on an old idea. Crime Prevention Studies, 22, 55.
36.
LauritsenJ. L.SampsonR. J.LaubJ. H. (1991). The link between offending and victimization among adolescents. Criminology, 29(2), 265–292.
37.
LewinK.GoldM. (1999). Group decision and social change. In GoldM. (Ed.), The complete social scientist: A Kurt Lewin reader (pp. 265–284). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/10319-010
MatjaskoJ. L.Vivolo-KantorA. M.MassettiG. M.HollandK. M.HoltM. K.Dela CruzJ. (2012). A systematic meta-review of evaluations of youth violence prevention programs: Common and divergent findings from 25 years of meta-analyses and systematic reviews. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 17, 540–552.
40.
MillerW. R.BrownJ. M.SimpsonL. M.HandmakerN. S.BienT. H.LuckieL. F.MontgomeryH. A.HesterR. K.ToniganJ. S. (1995). What works? A methodological analysis of alcohol treatment outcome literature. In HesterR. K.MillerW. R. (Eds.), Handbook of alcoholism treatment approaches: Effective alternatives (2nd ed., pp. 12–44). Allyn & Bacon.
41.
MoherD.LiberatiA.TetzlaffJ.AltmanD. G., & The PRISMA Group. (2009). Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: The PRISMA statement. PLoS Medicine, 6(7), e1000097. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed1000097
42.
MorganR. E.KenaG. (2017). Criminal victimization, 2016. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics. Retrieved June 23, 2018, fromhttps://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/cv16.pdf
43.
NeilsonL. C. (2014). At Cliff’s edge: Judicial dispute resolution in domestic violence cases. Family Court Review, 52(3), 529–563. https://doi.org/10.1111/fcre.12106
44.
OhmerM. L. (2016). Strategies for preventing youth violence: Facilitating collective efficacy among youth and adults. Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research, 7(4), 681–705.
45.
OhmerM. L.WarnerB. D.BeckE. (2010). Preventing violence in low income communities: Facilitating residents’ ability to intervene in neighborhood problems. Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, 37(2), 161–181.
46.
ParanicaK. (2012). The implications of intimate partner violence on ethical mediation practice. North Dakota Law Review, 88(4), 907–920.
PincockH. (2013). Does mediation make us better? Exploring the capacity-building potential of community mediation. Conflict Resolution Quarterly, 31(1), 3–30.
49.
PinkerS. (2011). The better angels of our nature: Why violence has declined. Viking.
50.
PitcherB. L.HamblinR. L.MillerJ. L. (1978). The diffusion of collective violence. American Sociological Review, 43, 23–35.
51.
PlantyM.TrumanJ. L. (2013). Firearm violence 1993–2011. U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Statistics. http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/fv9311.pdf
52.
PolkinghornB.LaChanceH.HopsonM. (2010). An analysis of the utility and perceived impact of mediation on case management within the city of Baltimore Office of the State’s Attorney. Center for Conflict Resolution.
53.
RonanG. F.DreerL.MaurelliK.RonanD. W.GerhartJ. (2014). Practitioner’s guide to empirically supported measures of anger, aggression, and violence. Springer.
SampsonR. J.LaubJ. H. (1993). Crime in the making: Pathways and turning points through life. Harvard University Press.
56.
ShermanL. W.StrangH.Mayo-WilsonE.WoodsD. J.ArielB. (2015). Are restorative justice conferences effective in reducing repeat offending? Findings from a Campbell systematic review. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 31(1), 1–24.
ShonholtzR. (2000). Community mediation centers: Renewing the civic mission for the twenty-first century. Mediation Quarterly, 17(4), 331–340.
59.
SilverE.PiqueroA. R.JenningsW. G.PiqueroN. L.LeiberM. (2011). Assessing the violent offending and violent victimization overlap among discharged psychiatric patients. Law and Human Behavior, 35(1), 49–59.
60.
*SkoganW. G.HartnettS. M.BumpN.DuboisJ. (2009). Evaluation of ceasefire-Chicago. Institute for Policy Research—Northwestern University.
61.
StrangH.ShermanL. W.Mayo-WilsonE.WoodsD.ArielB. (2013). Restorative Justice Conferencing (RJC) using face-to-face meetings: A systematic review. Campbell Systematic Reviews, 12(1), 1–59.
62.
TrumanJ. L.LangtonL. (2015). Criminal victimization, 2014. U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics.
63.
UmbreitM. S.CoatesR. B.VosB. (2001). Juvenile victim offender mediation in six Oregon counties. National Organization for Victim Assistance.
64.
UmbreitM. S.GreenwoodJ. (2000). Directory of victim-offender mediation programs in the United States/Mark S. Umbreit, Jean Greenwood with Robert Schug, Jenni Umbreit, Claudia Fercello. U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office for Victims of Crime.
65.
VaughnM. G.HowardM. O. (2004). Adolescent substance abuse treatment: A synthesis of controlled evaluations. Research on Social Work Practice, 14(5), 325–335.
66.
Vera Institute of Justice. (1981). Felony arrests: Their prosecution and disposition in New York City’s Courts. The Institute.
67.
WahrhaftigP. (2004). Community dispute resolution, empowerment and social justice: The origins, history and future of a movement. NAFCM Press.
68.
*WebsterD. W.WhitehillJ. M.VernickJ. S.CurrieroF. C. (2013). Effects of Baltimore’s safe streets program on gun violence: A replication of Chicago’s CeaseFire program. Journal of Urban Health-Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine, 90(1), 27–40. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-012-9731-5
69.
*WhitehillJ. M.WebsterD. W.VernickJ. S. (2013). Street conflict mediation to prevent youth violence: Conflict characteristics and outcomes. Injury Prevention, 19(3), 204–209. https://doi.org/10.1136/injuryprev-2012-040429
70.
*WilsonJ. M.ChermakS. (2011). Community-driven violence reduction programs: Examining Pittsburgh’s one vision one life. Criminology & Public Policy, 10, 993–1027.
71.
ZehrH. (1990). Changing lenses. Herald Press.
72.
ZehrH. (2015). The little book of restorative justice. Simon & Schuster.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
