Restorative Justice
What is Restorative Justice?
"Restorative justice is a process to involve, to the extent possible, those who have a stake in an offense and to collectively identify and address harms, needs and obligations, in order to heal and put things right as possible."
-Howard Zehr
After any crime, a victim's life can be forever changed. System and personal attempts to seek justice in response to crimes and the changes they create often include seeking revenge or trying to make the person who caused harm pay for their actions. But those attempts usually don’t meet victim needs for closure or peace of mind. Another approach to seeking justice, which can provide opportunities for people who have been harmed to be heard and have their needs met, and for people who have done harm to learn, express accountability, and make amends.
- Restorative Justice recognizes that crime hurts everyone - those who have been harmed, those who have done harm, and the community. It creates opportunities for people who have caused harm to meet their obligations and make things right.
- The foundation of restorative justice is genuine accountability based on 3 R's: respect, responsibility and relationships.
Three Key Restorative Justice Concepts
- Crime is a violation of people and relationships.
- Crime creates harms, needs and obligations.
- Individuals most affected should be meaningfully included and empowered.
Comparison of Justice
| Court Justice | Restorative Justice |
|---|---|
|
Punitive, state-centered, impersonal. |
Victim-centered, personal, and seeks to repair harm. |
|
Discourages empathy and responsibility toward those who have done harm. |
Connects those who have done harm with the impact of their actions to help them take responsibility. |
|
Focused on punishing those who have done harm. |
Focused on victim and healing. |
|
Asks, what laws were broken. |
Asks, who has been harmed by this event. |
|
Crime is essentially a violation of the law and the state is the victim. |
Crime is essentially a violation of (harm to) people and relationships. Such violations result in obligations. |
|
The aim of justice is to establish blame (guilt) and administer pain (punishment). |
The aim of justice is to identify obligations and to promote restoration and/or healing. |
|
The process of justice is a conflict between adversaries in which those who have done harm are pitted against the state and rules and intentions outweigh outcomes. |
The process of justice involves everyone – those who have been harmed, those who have caused harm, and the community – in an effort to identify obligations and solutions, and to maximize communication among them. |
|
Asks, who did it. |
Asks, what are the needs of all involved. |
2024 Minnesota Restorative Services Directory
The Minnesota Restorative Services Directory is a free resource, updated annually. It is designed to connect people who provide restorative services with those seeking them. If you or your organization would like to be included in future versions, please contact us at: RestorativeJustice.DOC@state.mn.us.
More Information
Continue to the Victim-Initiated Restorative Practices page to learn more.