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Restorative justice provides an alternative to retributive justice by seeking to restore criminal offenders to be responsible members of the community. Often offenders will apologize (A) and offer to make restitution (R) for the damage done. Such offers might affect all parties present by promoting forgiveness (though that is not a stated goal of restorative justice), resolution of damages, and positive attitudes toward justice. We investigated Family Group Conferencing (FGC), which involves offender, victim, and supporters of each, in a mediated 30-minute dialogue. Namely, we organized role-play simulation meetings between “victims,” “offenders,” and the “mother” of each. There were 64 participants (16 groups of 4 participants). Each group role-played a mediated FGC that was video recorded. The offender had either to apologize and offer restitution (AR) or avoid both (No AR). Questionnaires assessed forgiveness (and other outcomes) from each of the four participants’ perspectives. Coders coded behavior during the role-play. AR promoted forgiveness by all parties, but to different degrees. Coded “softness” of offender’s behavior (i.e., nonverbal signs of remorse, contrition, and regret) affected victim’s behaviors and ratings by women role-playing both mothers. The role-play simulation allowed some understanding of the inner working of FGCs relative to retrospective questionnaires.

Two experiments (N= 487) tested the effects of receiving an apology (absent, present) and restitution (absent, present) in imagery of a one-sided transgression and common property crime, a burglary scenario. Within a framework of accountability, apology and restitution represent relationally responsive responsibility-taking and repair efforts by a perpetrator. Experiments 1 and 2 found that a thorough apology and restitution each decreased unforgiveness while eliciting increased empathy and forgiveness from student and community samples, respectively. Experiment 2 found that a custody condition consistent with a perpetrator’s willing accountability for wrongdoing (i.e., spontaneous confession with surrender) decreased unforgiveness while increasing empathy and forgiveness in comparison to a custody condition in which the offender was being held accountable externally (involuntary apprehension) or a no-custody control condition. This experimental evidence points to offender accountability efforts through apology, restitution, and surrender as important for decreasing victims’ unforgiving motivations and promoting their empathy and forgiveness.