Examining the effect of punishment on Financial victims in the context of restorative justice

Today, Restorative justice can be considered as a response to some crimes. This concept include elements as victims, confessed criminals, behavior which is affected the victim and local community and the responsibilities of the offender towards the victim. The aim of this responsibility is to compensate the damages which were caused by crime. In the meantime, some consider the responsibility unrelated to punishment and others consider it compatible with punishment.Through empirical examination of the effect of punishment on real and hypothetical victims, the present study seeks to explain the position of punishment in restorative justice. The statistical population of this research are Iranian students of the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad. By using Cochran’s Q test, the sample size that determined was 378 people. Also the sample selected from population through the stratified random sampling method. Data were collected by Likret scale method. The validity of the questionnaire was examined by professors; the reliability of questionnaire was evaluated by Alpha test at level of 0.81 and data were analyzed through Excel and SPSS.Findings show that victims have different attitudes toward punishment goals. The Restorative attitude in minor crimes can lead to substitution of the punishment but in major crimes, the restorative attitude is weakened; and the propensity for punishment increase. Evaluating the factors of the victims emotional recovery shows that they cannot restore their emotions without executing the punishment. However, if the apology and compensation are accompanied by punishment, they satisfied with lighter punishment.