The Goals of Restorative Justice

Ten years ago I read a book that helped shape my life and opened my eyes to a "new" way of thinking about the criminal justice system. That book is "Changing Lenses", by Howard Zehr.

It had been five years since my daughter's murder, but I still felt as though the criminal justice system had not heard me or taken into account how I felt or what I needed in order to move forward with my life having been the survivor of a violent crime.

"Changing Lenses" is the reason I do the work I do today.

Kim Book
Executive Director

Restorative Justice programs aim to:

• Put key decisions into the hands of those most affected by crime
• Make justice more healing and, ideally, more transformative
• Reduce the likelihood of future offenses

Achieving these goals requires that:

• Victims are involved in the process and come out feeling satisfied
• Offenders understand how their actions have affected other people and take responsibility for these actions
• Outcomes help to repair the harms done and address the reasons for the offense
• Victim and offender both gain a sense of "closure," and both are reintegrated into the community

Howard Zehr is the author of "Changing Lenses," and "The Little Book of Restorative Justice."

He has been called the grandfather of restorative justice. He directed the first victim/offender dialogue program in the United States and is one of the developers of restorative justice as a concept.

Dr. Zehr is co-director of the graduate Center for Justice and Peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University (Harrisonburg, VA). From this base, he also teaches and practices in the field of restorative justice. Zehr received his M.A. from the University of Chicago and his PH.D. from Rutgers University.