Reflections on research articles relavent to SF
Research review
Sep 5, 2024
Abstract
Interventions based on restorative conferences and SF brief therapy reduced the recidivism rate of violent offenders from 57% (control group) to 29% (experimental group). This important study was carried out in Hawaii (Honolulu’s district court). It was designed to establish the effectiveness of the Pono Kaulike programme – a programme for people who plead guilty, the people hurt by their crimes, and their supporters. In the words of the authors: “Pono Kaulike uses the SF brief therapy approach, which carefully uses language, and appreciates the importance of relation- ships in assisting troubled people to find their own solutions to problems” (Walker & Hayashi, 2007 p. 20). It also uses restorative conferences, a group process that includes the participation of the people who committed the crime, their victims and their supporters. The goals of the programme are to help people hurt by the crime to heal and to decrease repeat criminal activity.