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Summary

Walgrave, Lode (2008). Restorative Justice: An Alternative for Responding to Crime? In Shoham, Shlomo Giora, Ori Beck and Martin Kett, ed., International Handbook of Penology and Criminal Justice, Florida, USA, Taylor & Francis Group. Pp. 613-689.

"This chapter presents the state of affairs of restorative justice, its options, achievements, and problems. But it must be clear by now that restorative justice is an unfinished product. It is a complex and lively realm of different and often opposite beliefs and options, renovating inspirations and practices in different contexts, scientific crossing swords over research methodology and outcomes. Restorative justice is at the same time a social movement with different degrees of self-criticism, and a scientific domain with different degrees of methodological adequacy. It is a field on its own, looking for constructive ways of dealing with the aftermath of crime, but also part of a larger socio-ethical and political agenda. As a consequence, my presentation cannot but include a number of personal views and options. Where necessary, I shall indicate my deviations from the restorative justice mainstream." (abstract)

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