What Situations Can Restorative Justice Address?
Different situations might lend themselves either to mediation or to restorative justice, but intake discussions with NVMS staff help to clarify the preferences or choices of those affected. The RJ process typically applies to community situations in which conflicting parties acknowledge that some action (or lack of one) harmed them, and they are seeking ways to address the harm (in addition to other resolutions). These situations may be distributed into two categories: • Where the underlying conflict or offense involves the commission of a crime, and in so far as justice authorities support an RJ process to address it, RJ facilitators work with the offender(s), the victim(s) and those similarly affected by the harm (e.g., family members, neighbors, colleagues) to acknowledge the harm and its consequences, to take appropriate responsibility for it, and to seek ways to repair it as much as is possible. These cases might involve crimes of theft, simple assault, vandalism, etc. • Where th
