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JOURNAL OF INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH
person serving an alternative sentence, depending on whether
they know such a person, was not confirmed at the selected level
of significance. In other words, it is not possible to claim that
students who know a person serving an alternative sentence will
have a more positive attitude to them than the students who do
not know such a person.
In the fifth partial research aim, we assumed that more
humanities students will consider the institution of probation
trustworthy than technical sciences students. The likelihood of
considering the institution of probation trustworthy is 5.7 times
greater for humanities students than for technical sciences
students. Also this partial aim, with the values of Pearson χ -
quadrate = 6.154, p = 0.019, was confirmed.
7 Discussion
In the conducted research, we examined students' attitudes to
restorative justice and to sentencing alternatives. Several authors
(Lulei, 2011; Canton, 2011; Roberts, 2004) have dealt with a
similar issue. Lulei (2011) conducted research on the
implementation of social work in criminal justice. In his research
findings, he argues that the preferred qualification for providing
probation or mediation services is a university degree in social
work, as the practice of probation and mediation requires
knowledge from a number of scholarly disciplines. He states that
a degree in the field of social work facilitates the necessary
education and training for pursuing social work careers in the
probation and mediation fields. Our research has also confirmed
that humanities students, in comparison with technical sciences
students, are more informed about sentencing alternatives,
probation, probation programs, mediation, and the remedial and
educational effect of sentencing alternatives. The research
findings show that the former, in comparison with the latter, also
tend to have a more favorable feeling towards people serving an
alternative sentence.
Another finding by Lulei (2011), was that the general public was
less informed about alternative sentencing than those working in
the area were; therefore, he holds a view that sentences should
be imposed upon criminals more strictly. The present research
shows that undergraduate training affects the degree of how
strict students would be in imposing a sentence in case they had
decision-making power. We found out that humanities students,
in contrast to technical sciences students, would prefer an
alternative sentence over a prison sentence for committing petty
crimes if they had decision-making power.
Similarly, Canton (2011) states that the public opinion on the
degree of severity in imposing sentences relates to knowing the
person serving an alternative sentence and to knowing the
circumstances of the criminal case. He claims that the greater the
public's insight into the details of the individual case is, the less
punitive they become. The present research has also focused on
determining whether knowing a person serving an alternative
sentence affects the polarity of students' attitudes. The change in
students’ attitudes to a person serving an alternative sentence
depending on whether they know him/her has not been
confirmed. However, in the research, we did not focus on how
much students knew about the circumstances of the case. We
believe that future research will also include the insight in the
circumstances of the case.
The Canadian Criminology Professor Roberts (2004),
emphasizes the importance of public trust in the functioning of
the criminal system, as well as in probation. A number of crimes
is brought to the attention of the police as a result of information
provided by the victim, the witness, or the wider public. If the
public has low confidence in the police, this information comes
in a lesser amount. The research findings show that a certain
degree of confidence in the institution of probation can be seen
in both humanities students and technical sciences students.
However, based on the findings, the former express more trust in
its credibility than the latter. It can therefore be assumed that this
finding is important in terms of opinion-making, which is often
influenced by professionals.
Based on to-date research and on its comparison with our
findings, certain procedures can be predicted; namely, it is
necessary:
in the framework of preventive and awareness-raising
activities, to ensure that public awareness is enhanced in
terms of the needs of the offender, the victim, and the
community in which the crime occurred; in terms of
restorative justice, sentencing alternatives, and the
activities of probation and mediation workers;
in undergraduate training, to address the issue of students’
attitudes towards restorative justice and towards persons
serving an alternative sentence;
within mass media communication, to support activities
aimed at promoting restorative justice as a substitute of
retributive justice, its advantages from humanistic or
economic points of view;
within particular penitentiary or post-penitentiary care, to
improve activities aimed at mitigating the stigma, and to
support the offender’s or victim’s reintegration into the
society.
Regarding the present results, we consider it important to
mention the educational dimension, which offers space for the
implementation of the mentioned procedures. The university
degree in social work provides for specialized courses focusing
on the presently examined forensic social work issues, thus on
bringing the knowledge closer to the students and increasing
their awareness of the focal issue. In technical sciences students,
this could be done in the form of lectures delivered by
professionals, or through conferences or workshops.
8 Conclusion
The present research points to the necessity to identify factors
and agents, including changeable or risky ones, that affect the
state of restorative justice in Slovakia. The basic theoretical and
legal definition of sentencing, its function and principles in its
imposition is essential for a broader application framework of
retributive and restorative justice. The comparing of retributive
justice with restorative justice creates a prerequisite for the
positive impact of restorative justice on the state, offenders, and
victims. Being aware of sentencing alternatives can lead to a
change in an attitude, and the individual (whether a layman or a
punisher) has available more options, other than imprisonment,
when it comes to protecting the society, repressing someone,
preventing crime, while at the same time complying with the
principles of sentencing.
We have searched for answers to questions concerning the
offender and the victim, yet not forgetting the community to
which the victim and the offender belong. We have pointed out
the importance of choosing appropriate methods and techniques,
but also the importance of social workers’ proper attitudes to
offenders and victims in terms of their successful reintegration
into the society. We have researched the social work students’
sensitivity to restorative justice and to persons serving an
alternative sentence, and compared it to technical sciences
students. We have found out that social work students are more
sensitive to restorative justice and to person serving an
alternative sentence than technical sciences students. At the basis
of this intentional action is the finding that it is possible to
change attitudes through facilitating knowledge and enhancing
the awareness.
Literature:
1. Act no. 300/2005 Coll. Criminal Code as amended.
2. Act no. 301/2005 Coll. Code of Criminal Procedure as
amended.
3. Act no. 550/2003 Coll. on Probation and Mediation Officers
as amended.
4. Balogová, B.: Challenges and Limits in Forensic Social Work
in Slovakia. In: Labor Socialis: Social Work in Changing Europe
in the 21st Century: Proceedings of Scientific Conference with
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