Restorative Justice is becoming widely used in schools, in youth justice, as part of police cautioning, and in prisons. It works to resolve conflict and repair harm. It encourages those who have caused harm to acknowledge the impact of what they have done and gives them an opportunity to make reparation. It offers those who have suffered the harm, the opportunity to have their harm or loss acknowledged, and amends made.

Interest in Restorative Justice is a recent development in England and Wales, but restorative approaches to offending can be found in many ancient civilisations. In the British adversarial or retributive system, crime is seen as a violation of the state and the focus is on blame. In a restorative approach, the crime is a violation of the victim and the community and the focus is on problem solving and obligation. Instead of inflicting punishment to hurt and deter, the emphasis is on the restoration of all parties. It is an important Restorative Justice principle that all parties enter into the process willingly.

What?

Restorative Justice in action can include a number of different processes, including:

Victim/Offender Mediation/Conferencing: Volunteers are trained to facilitate meetings between victim and offender and their families/supporters, or to pass messages between them, if that's what the victim and offender want. This is used extensively in Youth Justice. Indirect Mediation may take place where the offender and/or the victim do not wish to meet, directly; a mediator or facilitator conveys messages and may help them to try to reach an understanding or agreement. In other circumstances, a representative victim may help offenders understand the impact of their offending.

Family Group Conferences/Meetings: These are meetings where extended family are invited to come together with the aim of resolving conflict or problem behaviour. They are primarily used with young people who are considered at risk, or if an important decision has to be made, such as where the young person might live. Family Group Conferences have been widely used by Social Services, and are used within some youth justice areas for young people who have committed offences.

Reparation: This may be a compensation payment to the victim, or if the victim wishes, to a charitable organisation. It may take the form of work for the victim (especially when the victim is an organisation such as a small business or a school) or community reparation - usually for a charitable organisation. Ideally reparative placements should meet the wishes of the victim and be offence related. They should also take account of the skills or interests of the offender as this will increase the likelihood of successful completion and help re-integrate the offender. Reparative projects exist in many prisons, arranged by organisations such as the Inside Out Trust (See Addresses).

Who?

There are many ways in which you can assist, as Restorative Justice is intended to involve everyone in the community. You can train as a mediator, become involved in a local project (or help set one up), tell your story if you have experience as a victim or an offender, or join a Youth Offending Panel (See youth Justice).

How?

The Restorative Justice Consortium has information and advice for prospective volunteers (See Addresses).

Mediation UK can direct people to a local mediation service, which provides training and support to volunteer mediators (See Addresses).