Restorative justice as an alternative dispute resolution model: opinions of victims of crime and criminal justice professionals in Nigeria

This is an original non-experimental research conducted in four Geo-Political Zones in Nigeria (West Africa). It surveys opinions of victims of crime and conflicts, and criminal justice professionals with regard to exploring restorative justice as an Alternative Dispute Resolution Model in the country. The findings of this study are relatively in line with other cross-national research and evaluations of restorative justice, which consistently demonstrate that victims of crime are better off after participating in restorative justice programmes compared to the court proceedings (see Strang et al, 2006 for instance). The ‘Afrocentric’ viewpoints contained in the findings are imperative to international practitioners and scholars interested in Peace and Dispute Resolutions in Africa.