This volume grew out of the 4^th International Conference on Restorative Justice for Juveniles, held in 2000. With chapters reflecting wide geographical as well as thematic coverage, the collection reviews a number of key developments and issues in restorative justice practice. 

Three chapters explore the applicability of restorative processes in cases of violence. The first, by Raymond Corrado, Irwin Cohen and Candice Odgers, draws from a survey of violent young offenders in Vancouver, Canada, and argues that restorative processes, combined with incarceration and treatment programmes, offer a promising solution to issues of reoffending and feelings of insecurity in the community. In the second, Britta Bannenberg and Dieter Rössner consider how restorative approaches might be used in cases of domestic violence. They acknowledge sensitive issues surrounding the use of restorative justice in these types of conflicts, and suggest that mediation in programmes specifically focused on domestic violence shows promise. However, they argue, the attitudes of German criminal justice professionals toward domestic violence will need to change before mediation can be meaningfully employed. In the third, Mark Umbreit, William Bradshaw, and Robert Coates describe programmes in Canada and the United States, highlighting the different approaches taken to addressing the needs of victims and offenders in violent crime. While greater caution and preparation are required for crimes of violence, evaluation results demonstrate the effectiveness of restorative approaches. 

Four chapters explore the use of restorative processes in new contexts. Suzanne Nothhaft describes a mediation programme developed for Munich secondary schools after a victim-offender mediation organization observed that in many cases juvenile violence was connected to escalating conflicts in school. Luc Robert and Tony Peters describe a Belgian pilot programme to apply restorative justice in the prison setting. The project, called restorative detention, was tested in three prisons and then expanded nationally after successful evaluations. The programme involves training prison personnel in restorative justice, integrating the views and experiences of victims into treatment programmes, and creating ways for offenders to take responsibility for their actions and make amends. Marianne Löschinig-Gspandl argues for application of restorative practices in Austria when corporations are criminal offenders, and suggests possible applications when corporations are the victims. John Braithwaite draws on his experiences with nursing home inspections in the United States as well as with mining regulation violations. He argues that restorative justice is more effective than punitive sanctions in these regulatory matters because they allow storytelling by affected parties who would not otherwise have a voice. 

Three chapters deal with the integration of restorative practices into crime policy. Els Durmortier discusses legal safeguards in a Belgian mediation programme. Thomas Trenczek looks at the use of victim-offender mediation in Germany and the policy issues surrounding it. Peter Lindstrom compares restorative practices and with zero-tolerance policies in Sweden. 

Six chapters draw lessons, cautionary as well as encouraging, from research.  Toshio Yoshiko questions assertions made by outside analysts that the Japanese justice system is an example of restorative justice. Although confession, apology, and reparation all play a part in the system, Yoshiko argues that the underlying paradigm of the Japanese system is in fact strict retribution. One indication of this is that the confessions and apologies are often made to police or prosecutors rather than to the victim. He calls for a shift to a more restorative approach in Japan.  Kathleen Daly cautions that high expectations for restorative justice may help generate enthusiasm in early stages but lead to disappointment when the outcomes of empirical research do not meet those high expectations. Daly calls for using these disappointments to better understand what works and what doesn’t in restorative justice practice. Lawrence Sherman, Heather Strang, and Daniel Woods analyse the impact of conference facilitators’ experience and technique on conference outcomes and on the response of young offenders to the conference.  Dieter Dölling and Arthur Hartmann examine reoffending after victim offender mediation in Germany, concluding that successful VOM cases showed a decrease in recidivism.  A chapter by Elmar Weitekamp, Hans-Jürgen Kerner uses experience with community policing to explore linkages between restorative justice and community justice. Finally, Barb Toews and Howard Zehr apply restorative principles to the research process itself, questioning the customary research paradigm of observation by a neutral expert. 

This collection raises and advances the reader’s understanding of key questions that must continually be asked within the restorative justice community: where and when should restorative justice be applied; what is the impact of restorative justice; and what characteristics make a programme or process effective?

Lynette Parker

August 2003