A Little More Peace in the World: Reflections on my Experience with Restorative Justice

I have had the privilege of interacting with countless people - victims, offenders, and community members - whose lives were turned upside down or radically altered by a disruptive event. The opportunity to engage with each of these people came after the fact of a harmful and often criminal act. In many cases, the marks of that event remained imbedded in the memory of these people.

I had the unique opportunity to step into the present with people - with men in prison, with youth offenders, the victims, and those closely connected with them. As a restorative justice practitioner, I could make no claim of being able to put things back to how they were before. Restorative Justice does embrace the possibility of new beginnings, of recognizing beauty and value and meaning in the aftermath of harm and destruction.

These are reflections on my experience with restorative justice. -- from the Preface.