Restorative Justice and Its Role in Healing and Accountability

Restorative justice offers an alternative to traditional criminal justice responses. Instead of focusing on punishment, it seeks to repair the harm that has occurred while still ensuring accountability. It allows for people who have been harmed, communities, and those who have harmed to have meaningful input into how to respond to conflicts and delinquent behavior. Restorative justice can be used at every point in the juvenile justice arena as a way to support at-risk young people, reduce disproportionate minority contact, provide opportunities for individual and community healing, and increase public safety.  Restorative justice can take many forms, most notably conferencing models, victim-offender dialogues, and circle processes. On this episode of Spotlight on Youth, guests will discuss restorative justice and highlight several models that have been successfully implemented.

Guests
Lauren Abramson, Founder & Executive Director, Community Conferencing Center; Assistant Professor, Child Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine  
sujatha baliga, Director, Restorative Justice Project & Associate Director, National Council on Crime & Delinquency
Cheryl Graves, Executive Director, Community Justice for Youth Institute