1. A process where all stakeholders affected by an injustice have an opportunity to discuss how they have been affected by the injustice and to decide what should be done to repair the harm. 2. This is an approach to justice that personalizes the offense by having the victims and the offenders mediate a restitution agreement to each party’s as well as the community’s satisfaction. Contrasts to more punitive approaches where the main aim is retributive justice or to satisfy abstract legal or moral principles. 3. Victims take an active role in the process, offenders take responsibility for their actions, right their wrongs and redeem themselves, in their own eyes and those of the community. 4. The aim is to help the offender to avoid future offenses. 5. Based on a theory of justice that considers wrongdoing to be an offense against an individual or community, rather than the State or other authority. This approach fosters dialogue between victim and offender, which has shown to produce a high rate of victim satisfaction and offender accountability.
