ABSTRACT
This chapter examines whether restorative justice can help to repair the harms caused by hate crime. It summarises several commonly used restorative practices that have been examined empirically in the context of hate crime offending. The chapter explores the key process variables within restorative practice that have been identified as aiding the recovery of hate victims. These include: “story-telling”; support provided by restorative facilitators; and assurances of desistance as provided by offenders. The promise of restorative justice for hate crime lies mainly in its harm-repairing capabilities. Indeed, there are few other criminal justice practices that address effectively the complex dynamics of hate. Howard Zehr argues that crime is a “wound in human relationships” which requires convalescence. Robert Coates et al. provide several US-based case studies that illustrate the benefits of using a restorative approach to resolving different types of hate crime.
