ABSTRACT
Varieties of restorative practice are outlined, and the values, methods and structures for implementing them. The main values are based on empathy, usually expressed in dialogue. Methods include meeting in circles, conferencing, re-framing statements in neutral language, non-violent communication, and victim-offender mediation. The structures for implementing restorative practices may be in school discipline (often put together by the pupils themselves), or grievance procedures in organizations. Mediation in communities may be provided by practitioners in private practice, by training people within the system, or through a grass-roots community mediation service, often using trained volunteers as mediators. This chapter contributes to the Handbook’s ambitions by illustrating that how these ideas are growing into the concept of the ‘restorative city’, which is beginning to happen, at first in schools and other work with young people, and spreading to other parts of society such as the workplace, where it is suggested that restorative practice could replace conventional line management. The chapter also argues that there is a place for professional mediators, especially in the world of commerce and international relations, but in local communities, a network of locally-based services starting with young people may hold the best hope for the future.
