What information matters for individuals to prefer restorative over retributive justice? Evidence from survey experiments in high-conflict areas in Colombia

Last registered on July 20, 2023
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
What information matters for individuals to prefer restorative over retributive justice? Evidence from survey experiments in high-conflict areas in Colombia
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0011578
Initial registration date
July 19, 2023

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
July 20, 2023, 5:55 PM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country
Colombia
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Santiago Tobon
Affiliation
Universidad EAFIT
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Martin Vanegas-Arias
PI Affiliation
Universidad EAFIT
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PI Name
Alejandro Gomez
PI Affiliation
Universidad EAFIT
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PI Name
Santiago Silva
PI Affiliation
Universidad EAFIT
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PI Name
Jonathan Echeverri
PI Affiliation
Universidad EAFIT
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PI Name
Maria-Jose Sotomayor
PI Affiliation
Universidad EAFIT
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2023-06-26
End date
2023-07-31
Keywords
Behavior, Crime, Violence, & Conflict
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Restorative justice, as a model of justice that seeks to resolve conflicts through dialogue, agreement, accountability, and reparation of harm, has played a leading role in improving access to justice and reconstructing social and family relationships affected by the conflict. However, this model is not used frequently by citizens and State agents due to multiple factors ranging from shortcomings in its regulation to cultural beliefs regarding its effectiveness in resolving criminal conflicts. Instead, they prefer retributive justice mechanisms. To identify these biases, we propose an information provision survey experiment where we randomly give the respondent information about the effectiveness and reparation of the restorative justice mechanisms. This survey is run in 12 municipalities in Colombia highly affected by the armed conflict.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Echeverri, Jonathan et al. 2023. "What information matters for individuals to prefer restorative over retributive justice? Evidence from survey experiments in high-conflict areas in Colombia." AEA RCT Registry. July 20. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.11578-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Treated subjects receive information on the effectiveness and/or reparation of restorative justice. Within the treatment group, we have three subgroups:
- Subgroup 1 receives information only about the effectiveness
- Subgroup 2 receives information only about reparation
- Subgroup 3 receives information about the effectiveness and reparation
Also, within each subgroup, there are two forms to present the information treatment: half of the subgroup receives a story and the other half receives a bar chart presenting the information.
Intervention Start Date
2023-06-26
Intervention End Date
2023-07-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
1. Preference of the victim for the use of restorative justice over retributive justice
2. Preference of the perpetrator for the use of restorative justice over retributive justice
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
In the survey, we asked about the preference for the type of justice in case of being victims or perpetrators:
1. In the event that you were a victim of a robbery or physical assault, which option would you prefer to use to resolve your situation?
2. In the event that you were an offender in a robbery or physical assault case, which option would you prefer to use for your situation?

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
1. Posteriors on effectiveness
2. Posteriors on reparation
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)
In the survey, we asked about the posteriors:
1.1. Which option do you think is more effective in re-socializing (integrating back into society) the offender and reducing recidivism (re-offending)?
1.2. Which option do you think is faster and more efficient (cost/benefit ratio)?
2.1. Which option do you think would generate a greater sense of reparation and peace of mind for the victim?
2.2. Which option do you think would generate a greater sense of guilt, responsibility and need for reparation to the victimizer?

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We expect our primary outcome regression to take the following form:

Y = b0 + b1 T1 + b2 T2 + b3 T1 T2 + b4 E + b1 T1 E + b2 T2 E + b3 T1 T2 E + S + e

where
Y is our primary outcome
T1 is the treatment dummy for effectiveness
T2 is the treatment dummy for reparation
E is a variable that indicates the correctness of the priors
S is the municipality fixed effects
e is an error term (not clustered)
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization built into tablet-based survey instrument
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
12 municipalities
Sample size: planned number of observations
2,400
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
600 individuals per subgroup (300 per form of presentation)
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Universidad EAFIT
IRB Approval Date
2023-07-19
IRB Approval Number
NA
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials