Summary
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The Minnesota Department of Corrections has created a full time position to promote and support movement toward a restorative justice approach to the problem of crime. The efforts of the initiative have resulted in widespread interest among corrections professionals and pockets of interest among other criminal justice professionals. Greater community involvement is a key element of restorative justice; thus, education efforts have extended beyond the criminal justice system. Challenges to achieving the vision of restorative justice include a system oriented toward punishment, staff feeling overwhelmed, opposition from some victims groups, risk that the approach will not be applied uniformly and will thus benefit only some groups, and implementation that fails to reflect underlying restorative justice values.
