Victim-Offender Mediation as a Step Towards a Restorative System of Justice

Abstract

After reviewing some of the flaws in the existing system of justice based on retribution and rehabilitation, the paper proposes that society’s response to crime should have a single primary aim, and that this should be to restore the harm done to the victim or to the community. It is argued that restorative justice, combined with a strategy for crime reduction, would meet the aims of the traditional system while avoiding many of the harmful side-effects of punishment. Some practical and theoretical aspects of introducing restorative justice into the existing system are considered, together with the need for feedback and evaluation.