Restorative Awareness Course for Offenders (individual and group)

The Hate Crime Awareness Course (HCAC) is a single condition that can be added to a Community Resolution or Conditional Caution. It is a two-hour course run by Restorative Solutions, who deliver adult Restorative Justice (RJ) Services.

The course is based on restorative principles and seeks to get the offender to think about their actions and how they might impact on others, with a view to reducing further offending. Unlike standard Restorative Justice, the HCAC can be delivered either with or without the victim being involved. The victim is contacted and the impact of the behaviour explored, this is then used during the intervention by the facilitator to challenge the offender’s thinking and inform their understanding of the consequences of their behaviour.

Unlike most intervention courses, the HCAC is a one-to-one intervention designed to address the specific circumstances of each case. There must therefore be some clear specific hate language/behaviour that the offender has used, which the course provider can focus on and encourage reflection.

Restorative Solutions have additionally developed this approach into a group workshop for offenders where there is not an identified victim to the behaviour. These group sessions have also been successful in challenging and changing behaviour.