Restorative Justice Approaches to Intimate Partner Violence: A Review of Interventions

Abstract

Domestic violence, and specifically, violence against intimate partners, has generated a large research literature in the last few decades, particularly in the area of policy and community response and intervention. However, less attention has been given to the use of more innovative approaches in such situations, namely the use of restorative justice (RJ) interventions for intimate partner violence (IPV). The aim of this review is to provide a general overview of how RJ approaches have been utilized in the context of IPV, systematically examine the available literature on RJ approaches to IPV, describe the interventions that have been developed and empirically tested, and synthesize the findings. This review summarizes existing empirical research and literature on RJ interventions for IPV. CINAHL, APA PsychNet, PsychInfo, SocINDEX, SCOPUS, Medline PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Sociological Abstracts, Social Services Abstracts, Social Work Reference Center, Criminal Justice Abstracts, and PTSD Publications were systematically searched for English-language publications with no restrictions on the year of publication. As a result, 14 articles and 5 book chapters (empirical studies and reviews) on interventions were included in this review. Synthesized findings highlight the awareness and meaning of RJ; significance of community; goals and outcomes of RJ; timing of program implementation; and what types of IPV cases are best suited for RJ. Additionally, the review describes current research gaps as well as the challenges and barriers of implementing RJ interventions.