Restorative Justice

Restorative justice is a concept that views crime and crime control as the responsibility of offenders, victims, and communities. The concept of restorative justice centers around two basic questions. First, how are victims harmed by crime? Second, what can be done to repair that harm? Several immediate actions take place when crime is viewed from this paradigm. Offenders are more likely to take responsibility for their actions and offenders become accountable by participating in the process to repair the harm created.

The restorative justice orientation to crime control gives more weight to correcting the harm created by crime over punishment of the offender. Therefore, the offender becomes accountable to the victim and his/her community and not simply punished by a system of criminal justice.

The following are beliefs of Restorative Justice:

• Crime is an act against another person and the community making the offender accountable to the victim and the community
• Accountability is defined as taking responsibility and taking action to repair harm
• Victim perspective is essential to understand the harm and determine what might help repair the harm and how it can be repaired
• Offender is defined by capacity to make reparation; victim is defined by capacity to participate in the process and to heal
• Crime has both individual and social dimensions and responsibilities
• Crime control lies primarily in the social/economic system
• Punishment is only effective for short-term behavior change; relationships are more powerful than punishment for long-term change