What is Restorative Justice?
Restorative Justice is a new movement in the fields of victimology and criminology. Acknowledging that crime causes injury to people and communities, it insists that justice address those injuries and that the parties be permitted to participate in that process. Restorative justice programs, therefore, enable the victim, the offender and affected members of the community to be directly involved in responding to the crime. They become central to the criminal justice process, with State and legal professionals becoming facilitators of a system that aims at offender accountability, reparation to the victim and full participation by the victim, offender and community. The restorative process of involving all parties is fundamental to achieving the restorative outcome of reparation and peace.

Restorative justice is different from contemporary criminal justice in several ways. First, it views criminal acts more comprehensively - rather than defining crime as simply lawbreaking, it recognizes that offenders harm victims and communities as well. Finally, it measures success differently - rather than measuring how much punishment is inflicted, it measures how many harms are addressed or prevented.

Addressing the Harm Caused by Crime
Restitution is the payment by an offender of a sum of money to compensate the victim for the financial losses caused by the crime. It is justified in a restorative perspective as a method of holding offenders accountable for their wrongdoing, and as a method of addressing the victim's harm. Restitution can be determined in the course of mediation, conferencing or circles; it can also be ordered by a judge. In other words, it is a potentially restorative outcome that may result from either a restorative or a conventional process.

Studies have shown that restitution increases victim satisfaction with the justice process. Some studies have shown that the use of restitution was associated with reductions in recidivism. Other studies have shown that when restitution is determined during mediation, it is more likely to actually be paid than when it results from court order alone.

Restorative Community service is work performed by an offender for the benefit of the community. It is justified in a restorative perspective as a method of addressing the harm experienced by communities when a crime occurs. However, it can be used instead for retributive reasons or as a means of rehabilitating the offender. What distinguishes its use as a restorative response is the attention given to identifying the particular harm suffered by the community as a result of the offender's crime, and the effort to ensure that the offender's community service addresses that particular harm. So, for example, offenders who put graffiti on buildings in a neighborhood can be given the community service of removing graffiti from buildings in that neighborhood.