Introduction: Challenging the Assumptions

Source: (2002) In, John G. Perry, ed. Repairing Communities Through Restorative Justice. Lanham, MD : American Correctional Association. Pp. 1-17.

“To put it more plainly, providing the community with the opportunity to see and hear offenders’ stories of the circumstances and emotions of a crime has a positive outcome. This is especially the issue if such stories are accompanied by the victims’ stories of the impact and loss created by the crime, and if community members are allowed to define reparative activities for the offender to make amends and restore the victim, and then offenders are allowed to repair the damage done to the community and victims, experience the impact of their behavior on others, and learn ways to avoid criminal responses to life problems, reporting back to the community board on lessons learned. Now, how can you implement some of these principles in your community?

“This book attempts to provide some of the answers. Others will be based on experiments that may be relevant to other individuals’ settings. In five or ten years, the discussion of these issues should take on new questions based on broader experience in these various settings. The final chapter, by Gordon Bazemore and David Karp, addresses the assessment of what is becoming a movement, and defines the parameters for evaluation. Assessing the efficacy of restorative justice will require new paradigms for evaluation, too.” (excerpt)