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Summary

Dinnen, Sinclair and Cain, Tess Newton and Jowitt, Anita (2002). A Kind of Mending: Retorative Justice in the Pacific Islands Canberra, ACT: Pandanus Books.

This collection of essays grew out of the conference ‘Restorative Justice and Conflict Management in the Pacific Islands’ hosted by the State, Society and Governance in Melanesia Project at Australia National University and the Law School of the University of South Pacific. The group of academics, criminal justice professionals, and community activists discusses restorative justice as a viable option for the Pacific Islands because it resonates with traditional processes and practices. This optimism is reinforced by descriptions of innovative practices used to resolve conflict situations in recent history. At the same time, several writers caution against the assumption that traditional practices or attitudes are automatically restorative.

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