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The primary goal of the Restorative Justice process is not punishment but making good the harm done by offending for the victim, the community and the offender. Offenders have to take responsibility for their actions as a precondition to addressing the harm that they have caused. Offenders become aware that a crime is committed, not against an abstraction, but against someone real, a person like themselves and against their community, who are directly and indirectly affected by what has happened. Crime and conflict affect relationships between individuals who are left outside the court system altogether by conventional justice. Proceedings and arguments of the restorative process are voluntary for all parties. People are given the opportunity to partake in mediation, or to accept reparation. The process is always confidential however; outcomes and agreements can be made public, depending on the authorisation by participants.

The purpose of this position paper is to assess the contribution of restorative justice to the desistance paradigm with a particular focus upon the psychology of these approaches.

Risk, need and responsivity approaches to offender intervention are discussed and compared with the desistance paradigm. An integrative approach of the two methods is proposed and the value of desistance approaches is highlighted in understanding processes of change and how restorative justice approaches can best contribute.

Discussion of desistance theory and the consideration of primary, secondary and tertiary desistance stages leads to the exploration of interplays in social and the human capital and the contribution of restorative justice to the desistance process. A desistance process that belongs to the desister is proposed to be supported by restorative justice processes.

Conceptualising the interplay of human and social capital within primary, secondary and tertiary desistance is suggested improve the responsivity of restorative processes, promote desistance, reduce recidivism and better support children’s rights. It provides justification to extend restorative approaches to 18-24-year-old young adults and to different settings. Restorative justice evaluation should consider the process of restorative justice and its outcome measurement could better consider desistance stages.

The position paper outlines the unique contribution that restorative justice approaches can make in supporting desistance. It outlines a relevant conceptualisation of desistance to advance knowledge through an improved understanding of process to improve responsivity of restorative approaches and of evaluation practice.

Understanding culture and the restorative needs of individuals can help students learn cultural competence and provide students a unique look at cultures. The chapter will focus on a pedagogical and historical understanding of restorative justice, how it relates to cultural competence, and structuring curriculum with the use of a variety of activities to help students learn cultural competence.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the concept of restorative justice as a tool for rebuilding trust and repairing damaged relationships in the workplace.

The literature on restorative justice, found predominantly in the criminology field, is reviewed, and the origins and tenets of restorative justice are explained.

Research suggests that the goals of restorative justice are to repair the harm after a damaging incident, to repair the damaged relationship between the two parties in conflict, and restore the offender back to the community.

Restorative justice promises to address the issue of repairing damaged relationships at work, a critical problem in organizations that has yet to be thoroughly addressed in the management literature.

The chapter will examine the emergence and influence of the restorative justice movement as a bridge between communities, civil society and the state in Ireland. The chapter will focus on the Republic of Ireland, but will also examine restorative conferencing in Northern Ireland. This will be divided into a number of sections, each reflecting the emergence of a movement dedicated to the promotion of restorative justice as a vehicle for a holistic form of community-based justice in Ireland. This chapter covers the history, scope, and philosophical-political background of the restorative justice movement, providing specific examples of the interchange between this restorative justice movement and civil society in Ireland, Northern Ireland and the United States. The wider potential of the restorative justice movement will be highlighted.

This potential is demonstrated in the restorative movement’s challenge to understandings of failed punitive approaches, and through its socially redemptive alternative which emphasises collective responsibility for crime amongst all of the community. The chapter will also examine the international background to restorative justice, and its theoretical understandings, with a focus on key theorists such as Strang and Braithwaite, amongst others. It will examine salient issues that underpin social justice and social control in Ireland, including the potential impacts of restorative justice policy and practice for the wider community and the state.

Although the research literature has been expanding on restorative justice inquiries in the last few decades, there are only a few U.S.-based studies that have focused on restorative justice programming within public schools. Specifically, research is even more scant on the implementation concerns surrounding school-based restorative justice initiatives. Discussions of the effectiveness of these approaches for reducing school disciplinary problems resulting in suspensions, expulsions, and arrests are also rather limited. This chapter presents an in-depth examination into these issues by providing a thorough description of a restorative justice program in its early implementation stages in several Denver, Colorado public schools. The chapter concludes with a discussion of preliminary program evaluation findings and focuses on the overall feasibility of incorporating restorative justice programming in schools.