Promise of restorative justice: New approaches for criminal justice and beyond.

Source: (2010) Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, Inc.

This book provides a collection of essays on the ever increasing impact of restorative justice principles and practices within criminal justice as well as within many other social situations where conflicts occur. Having begun in the 1970s as a criminal justice system reform effort, restorative justice has grown to be a social movement in the global community, a movement that has expanded beyond criminal and juvenile justice systems. This collection of essays bears witness to the ever increasing impact of restorative principles and practices as they become embodied in so much of the fabric of human life, in multiple settings. The authors of the essays tell the story of how restorative justice is ultimately a way of life, of how we treat each other in all aspects of human existence. Divided into two parts, Part 1 essays personify the broader concept of restorative justice and bring the powerful messages of the promise of restorative justice to victims and offenders. The essays in Part 2 bring those same messages to the broader world. The rallying concept of the book is that restorative justice concepts, principles, and practices need not be limited to criminal justice activities but can be appropriate and even advantageous to many other social situations where conflicts occur. (Abstract courtesy of the National Criminal Justice Reference Service, www.ncjrs.gov).