‘Do i want to face the offender?’: Malaysian victims’ motivation for participating in restorative justice

ABSTRACT

The objective of this study is to understand Malaysian victims’ motivations for participating in restorative justice programmes via their views on three core elements of restorative justice: meeting and dialogue, reparation of harm and apology. In this mixed-design study, 63 Malaysian victims of crimes were interviewed. The findings suggest that, in general, there was a willingness to participate and that among the victims’ main motivations for participation were the desire to express their voice and to understand their victimisation. The findings of this study lay the groundwork for a new policy in Malaysia and contribute to understanding how restorative justice helps Malaysian victims of crime achieve well-being post-victimisation, as well how this can be achieved.

KEYWORDS:

• Restorative justice
• Malaysia
• victims of crime
• motivations for participation

Acknowledgments

Thanks to all respondents for their participation. This study also thanks Universiti Sains Malaysia for the funding given to make this study a possibility.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Universiti Sains Malaysia.

Notes on contributors

Taufik Mohammad

Taufik Mohammad is a lecturer of social work in the School of Social Sciences at Universiti Sains Malaysia. His specializations are juvenile offenders and justice, victims of crime, and restorative justice.

Azlinda Azman

Azlinda Azman is a professor of social work in Universiti Sains Malaysia. Her interests are adolescence and sexuality – spanning too from the issue of adolescence in the legal setting. She is currently the convener of AIDS Action and Research Group (AARG) in the same university.