Restorative Justice Today ─ Practical Applications

Van Wormer (social work, U. of Vermont) and Walker (restorative justice, U. of Hawaii Honolulu Community College) assemble a group of social work, law, criminal justice, restorative justice, and other specialists from around the world for 25 essays aimed at students of criminal justice, criminology, and social work, as well as those who work in these fields. They introduce readers to restorative justice as a form of conflict resolution with practical applications for work with individuals as victims or offenders, and strategies used around the world. The introductory chapters provide historical and theoretical overviews, followed by chapters on individually based, small-group interventions; family and community-level strategies and practices that can be used by educational, correctional, and religious institutions; and strategies for macro-level peacemaking commissions. They relate to situations of domestic violence, sexual assault, clergy abuse, juvenile justice, adult corrections, reentry into the community following incarceration, anti-bullying programs, drug and mental health courts, environmental justice, and reparations to tribal and racial populations who have been wronged by society. Annotation c2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)