Restorative justice — theory and practice

Restorative justice as a formal practice — victim-offender mediation, community conferencing, restorative circles — draws on Indigenous traditions of conflict resolution that have existed for millennia and were largely displaced by colonial legal systems that prioritized state authority over community healing. The evidence on its effectiveness, where it has been implemented seriously, is consistently positive: higher satisfaction for victims, lower recidivism for offenders, stronger communities. The obstacle to its wider adoption is rarely empirical but political: punishment also serves social functions — scapegoating, ritual exclusion — that are not about rehabilitation at all.