ABSTRACT
Restorative justice is a distinctive alternative to rival theories of punishment. All theories of punishment justify the use of imprisonment under certain circumstances. While there may be disagreement about these circumstances, both retributivists and others will agree that there are cases where prison is justified. Restorative justice is an exception. Many proponents identify restorative justice with penal ‘abolition’ – calling themselves ‘abolitionists’ – to draw attention to their desire to provide an alternative to sentencing and the potential future abolition of prison. This distinctive, even radical, alternative offers a major challenge to traditional approaches to punishment. This chapter will examine this alternative as an alternative theory of punishment and consider its effectiveness as an approach to crime reduction. We will not consider the use of restorative justice in other contexts, such as in Truth and Reconciliation Commissions or as a process employed in addition to punishment.1
