This book brings together a selection of papers originally presented and discussed at the fourth international restorative justice conference, held at the University of Tübingen. The contributors include many of the leading authorities in the field of restorative justice, and they provide a comprehensive review of the theoretical foundations underlying this rapidly expanding movement. Restorative Justice: Theoretical foundations addresses a wide range of fundamental questions about restorative justice,considering amongst other things ways in which conceptual pitfalls can be avoided, and how traditional models of peacemaking and healing developed in traditional societies can be integrated into the justice systems of late modern societies. Overall it provides an authoritative overview of contemporary thinking about restorative justice and will be essential reading for anybody concerned with the future direction of criminal justice and criminal justice systems. leading world authorities address the theoretical foundations of restorative justicea rapidly expanding area within criminal justiceincludes chapters on restorative justice as applied to corporate crime, family violence and cases of extreme violence

This book provides a comprehensive and authoritative account and analysis of restorative justice, one of the most rapidly growing phenomena in the field of criminology and justice studies. This book aims to meet the need for a comprehensive, reliable and accessible overview of the subject. It draws together leading authorities on the subject from around the world in order to: elucidate and discuss the key concepts and principles of restorative justice explain how the campaign for restorative justice arose and developed into the influential social movement it is today describe the variety of restorative justice practices, explain how they have developed in various places and contexts, and critically examine their rationales and effects identify and examine key tensions and issues within the restorative justice movement brings a variety of disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives to bear upon the understanding and assessment of restorative justice. The Handbook of Restorative Justice is essential reading for students and practitioners in the field.

This is the 2nd edition of Gavrielides’ 2007 monograph “Restorative Justice Theory & Practice: Addressing the Discrepancy”, a ground-breaking book that examines the harmful gap between the restorative justice theory and its application covering the UK, the U.S., Europe, and internationally. Data were obtained from four international surveys with over 300 restorative justice practitioners, using a combination of qualitative methodologies, including questionnaires, interviews and focus groups. The 2nd edition provides critical updates for restorative justice research, policy and practice. Restorative justice projects strive to restore peace after a crime has been committed by involving victims, offenders and community representatives in dialogue. Previous studies reviewed by Dr. Gavrielides have credited these programmes with such benefits as lower recidivism, and higher levels of satisfaction with outcomes among victims, offenders and community representatives, compared to the traditional criminal justice system. However, the author’s seven-year research programme uncovered a pervasive gap between restorative justice principles and current restorative justice operations. This gap is blamed for widespread difficulties such as insufficient funding for restorative justice, inadequate training and accreditation of practitioners, lack of faith and commitment among staff, and a tendency for restorative justice over time to become increasingly similar to the standard criminal justice system. Dr. Gavrielides warns that if these problems are not corrected, the original values and benefits of restorative justice may never be realised. Foreword Part One: Arguing and Analysing the restorative justice literature CHAPTER 1: Restorative theory and practice in context; CHAPTER 2: Restorative justice: The Perplexing concept; CHAPTER 3: The International Dimension of Restorative Justice: From Theory to Policy and Practice; Part Two: Measuring the Gap between the restorative justice theory and practice; CHAPTER 4: The Practitioners’ Account; CHAPTET 5: Evaluating restorative justice CHAPTER 6: Problems in the Practical and Theoretical Development of Restorative Justice; CHAPTER 7: The UK Practitioners’ Account; Part Three: Pushing the Barriers – The application of restorative justice with hate crimes and sexual offences CHAPTER 8: Restorative justice and hate crimes: Addressing the gap between theory, policy and practice; CHAPTER 9: Restorative justice and sexual offending Part Four: Critical Reflections CHAPTER 10: Mind the Gap Between the Restorative Justice Theory and Practice; ——————————————- APPENDIX I. ORIGINAL SAMPLE OF SURVEY I (INTERNATIONAL) APPENDIX II. FINAL SAMPLE OF SURVEY I (INTERNATIONAL) APPENDIX III. SAMPLE OF SURVEY II (ENGLAND AND WALES) APPENDIX IV. SAMPLE OF SURVEY III APPENDIX V. SAMPLE OF SURVEY IV APPENDIX VI. CHRONOLOGY OF SEXUAL ABUSE CASES AGAINST THE NORTH AMERICAN CATHOLIC CHURCH BIBLIOGRAPHY Book Reviews “In a time when restorative justice has been embraced with unbridled enthusiasm by virtually every criminal justice network and dispute resolution stakeholder outside of the criminal justice system, Theo Gavrielides presents us with an original, comprehensive, and essential examination of the subject. This work should be read by anyone and everyone who is the least bit interested in the future health of the restorative justice movement.” Prof. John Winterdyk, Ph.D. Department of Justice Studies, Chair, Mount Royal College, Canada “Theo Gavrielides has provided a constructive and thought-provoking contribution to our understanding of the dynamics of one of the most significant contemporary developments in thinking about criminal justice.” Professor Nicola Lacey, LSE, UK “Restorative justice is a noble concept, but if the actual practice does not match the ideal, it could be discredited. That would be a great loss. Theo Gavrielides has brought together some challenging thoughts about this danger…” Dr. Martin Wright, European Forum of restorative justice and Restorative Justice Consortium, UK and EU It is a concise, engaging, innovative and informative book for practitioners and scholars. This comprehensive introduction to restorative justice provides a much-needed textbook for an increasingly popular area of study and practice, which can be used as a basis for further theoretical development and elaboration on the concept’s limitations and accountability. Dr. Effi Lambropoulou Professor of Criminology Department of Sociology, Panteion University of Social and Politic, Greece As a restorative justice practitioner for ten years, I continue to be impressed with the in-depth research Theo Gavrielides does in the field of restorative justice. He meets the challenges with provocative and cutting edge topics directly and succinctly… The struggle of theory vs. practice has been a difficult one in the field since restorative justice began mostly with practice. Gavrielides approaches this struggle with wisdom of historical roots and with encouragement that restorative justice is developing theory to catch up with practice. Linda Harvey Program Director and Founder of the Restorative Justice Council on Sexual Misconduct in Faith Communities, USA “Dr. Theo Gavrielides’ book provides a special journey from the underlying theoretical foundations to the daily practice of restorative justice. By his thought-provoking and critical approach, he gifts the restorative justice field with an essential analysis that bridges theory and practice in an interdisciplinary and multisectoral way” Borbala Fellegi, researcher and lecturer at the ELTE University, consultant of the Ministry of Justice in Hungary in the field of restorative justice, Hungary

Discussion of the histories, meanings, and assumptions of restorative justice have enriched the development of its theory, research, and practices. While some of this work has addressed the role of communication, the treatment of communication within restorative justice remains rather under-developed. Communication plays a central role in processes of restoration and justice and a constitutive role in making restorative justice what it is. In Creating Restorative Justice: A Communication Perspective of Justice, Restoration, and Community, Gregory D. PaulandIan M. Borton argue that by centering communication in restorative justice as it occurs in various contexts (from families, to schools, to communities), we can simultaneously deepen our understanding, enrich our practice, and amplify our study of restoration and justice. From a communication perspective, restorative contexts both use and are created by the communication present. Any outcomes from restorative processes are thus the product of the communication both within and between restorative practices’ participants. As the world addresses the challenges presented by injustice, inequality, and insecurity, it is incumbent we expand our understanding of restorative processes to account for the vital role of communication.

Restorative justice is a concept which could have significant implications for both the law and social regulation. In this book, the authors give an insight to how the introduction of these techniques has been received in the Republic of Ireland, shedding light on what could be the key to developing new responses to crime.

This up-to-date resource on restorative justice theory and practice is the literature’s most comprehensive and authoritative review of original research in new and contested areas. Bringing together contributors from across a range of jurisdictions, disciplines and legal traditions, this edited collection provides a concise, but critical review of existing theory and practice in restorative justice. Authors identify key developments, theoretical arguments and new empirical evidence, evaluating their merits and demerits, before turning the reader’s attention to further concerns informing and improving the future of restorative justice. Divided into four parts, the Handbook includes papers written by leading scholars on new theory, empirical evidence of implementation, critiques and the future of restorative justice. This companion is essential reading for scholars of restorative justice, criminology, social theory, psychology, law, human rights and criminal justice, as well as researchers, policymakers, practitioners and campaigners from around the world.

Restorative justice is increasingly being applied to settings characterized by large-scale violence and human rights abuses. While many embrace this development as an important step in attempts to transform protracted conflict, there are a number of conceptual challenges in transporting restorative justice from a democratic setting to one which has been affected by mass victimisation or civil war. These include responding to the seriousness and scale of harms that have been caused, the blurred boundaries between victims and offenders, and the difficulties associated with holding someone to account and compelling reparative activities. Despite reams of paper being devoted to defining restorative justice within democratic settings (where the concept first emerged), restorative scholars have been slow to comment on the integration of restorative justice into the transitional justice discourse. Restorative Justice in Transitional Settings brings together a number of leading scholars from around the world to respond to this gap by developing and further articulating restorative justice for transitional settings. These scholars push the boundaries of restorative justice to seek more effective approaches to addressing the causes and consequences of conflict and oppression in these diverse contexts. Each chapter highlights a limitation with current conceptions of restorative justice in the transitional justice literature and then suggests a way in which the limitation might be overcome. This book has strong interdisciplinary value and will be of interest to criminologists, legal scholars, and those engaged with international relations and peace treaties.

Restorative justice is the policy of eschewing traditional punishments in favour of group counselling involving both victims and perpetrators. Until now there has been no critical analysis of governmental rationales that legitimize restorative practices over traditional approaches but Governing Practices of Restorative Justice fills this gap and addresses the mentalities of governance most prominent in restorative justice. The author provides comprehensible commentary on the central images of this discursive arena in a style accessible to participants and observers alike of restorative justice.

This book provides insights into the history, development, and practice of restorative justice methods in China. Traditionally in China, mediation has played an important role in criminal proceedings, which has many characteristics in common with the “Western” concept of restorative justice. Through case studies and theoretical examination, the author of this timely work aims to bridge the research on restorative justice models mainly developed in the West with restorative justice as practiced in China. After a Brief overview and introduction, the author compares and contrasts case studies of restorative justice-like practices from different districts in China. The author examines cases studies from several regions within China, and explores the key question: can the restoration model developed in the West take root in China, and if so what legal, cultural and societal accommodations may need to be made? This work will be of interest to researchers in Criminology and Criminal Justice, particularly with an interest in alternative justice practices, restorative justice, and international comparative criminology; as well as researchers interested in Chinese affairs or Asian Studies.