9.10. Restorative Justice 
DAVID CARTER 
The process of restorative justice programs is often linked with community justice organizations and is 
normally carried out within the community. Therefore, RJ is discussed here in the community corrections 
section. Restorative justice is a community based and trauma-informed practice used to build relationships, 
strengthen communities, encourage accountability, repair harm, and restore relationships when 
wrongdoings occur. As an intervention following wrongdoing, restorative justice works for the people 
who have caused harm, and the victim(s), and community members impacted. Working with a restorative 
justice facilitator, participants identify harms, needs, and obligations, then make a plan to repair the harm 
and put things as right as possible. This process, restorative justice conferencing, can also be called victim-
offender dialogues. It is within this process that multiple items can occur. First, the victim can be heard 
within the scope of both the community and within the scope of the offense discussed. This provides the 
victim(s) an opportunity to express the impact on them, but also to understand what was happening from the 
perspective of the transgressor. At the same time, it allows the person committing the action to potentially 
take responsibility for the acts committed, directly to the victim(s) and to the community as a whole. This 
restorative process provides a level of healing that is often unique to the RJC. Pictured, the different processes 
that can occur during the different types of dialogues within RJC. 
Restorative Justice Processes 
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