Summary
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While Otto Driedger refers to faith communities "responding" to restorative justice, he contends that they really are not "responding." Rather, faith communities actually gave rise to the modern restorative justice movement. From this perspective, Driedger goes on to point out ways in which churches are involved in applying restorative ideas and practices to crime victims, offenders, and communities. In particular he highlights victim assistance by the Mennonite Central Committee, a video by the Presbyterian Church USA on restorative responses to vandalism and other crimes, a victim offender reconciliation program run by Community Justice Initiatives in British Columbia, community-based chaplaincies for offenders on re-entry, and other church-based structures for accountability and support for ex-offenders.
Link: http://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/text/prgrm/chap/faith/le/2_e.shtml
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