Comments on Previous Editions of Restoring Justice
"As a crime victim, victim advocate, and long-time supporter of restorative justice values and principals, I found Restoring Justice to be an excellent resource for anyone interested in the complex world of restorative justice history, processes, and ideas. Bravo to Dan Van Ness and Karen Strong for offering a balanced approach to restorative justice that understands "real" justice is about repairing the harm and healing those who have been harmed by crime: victims, offenders, and communities. Restoring Justice is a well-written and quite often inspirational book!"
– Ellen Halbert, Director, Victim/Witness Division, Travis County District Attorney’s Office, Austin, Texas; Editor, the Crime Victims Report , a national newsletter
"At each edition of Restoring Justice , Daniel Van Ness and Karen Heetderks Strong set the standard and make their volume one of the basic books―or perhaps the basic book―on restorative justice. Their book reflects the richness of the restorative justice approach, through process analyses with clinical relevance, theoretical thinking with social ethical and social significance, principled exploration on juridical options, and a broad sociological context analysis. Van Ness and Heetderks Strong colour this broad interdisciplinary picture with their own visions and options. In doing so, they deliver a crucial contribution to understanding restorative justice principles and their proper implementation. Restoring Justice is the result of intensive commitment to the values of restorative justice, balanced with a constructive critical mind for possible problematic implementations, and openness for unanswered questions and unresolved difficulties. It is a landmark in the restorative justice literature."
– Lode Walgrave, Professor Emeritus, Catholic University of Leuven
"In Restoring Justice , Dan Van Ness and Karen Strong] challenge researchers and scholars to move beyond measuring only recidivism as the ultimate outcome of evaluation, and victim and offender satisfaction as the primary intermediate measures. Based on this work, we may now instead build upon core principles to develop dimensions and measures of process integrity, as well as theoretical dimensions to assess intermediate outcomes for victim, offender and community."
– Gordon Bazemore, Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Florida Atlantic University
"Restoring Justice is the best, most thorough text on the most important development in the justice system in the last decade: restorative justice. . . . a seminal work. . . this book does a wonderful job of describing the rationale, presenting the arguments, confronting the criticisms. . . provides a measured, reliable statement on our need to restore justice."
– Todd Clear, Professor of Criminal Justice, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
". . . a great introductory overview of restorative justice . . . easily understood while also providing significant depth. . . . draws together the significant insights in the field while making several new contributions. . .invites and encourages change without alienating people who are currently working in the field. I recommend Restoring Justice for both the novice and the seasoned restorative justice reader."
– Ron Claassen, Director, Center for Peacemaking and Conflict Studies, Fresno Pacific University
". . . an exceptionally good job of clearly articulating the underlying principles and values of restorative justice, including many practical examples. This book will serve as a primary resource for scholars and practitioners involved in the restorative justice movement as it continues to expand."
– Mark Umbreit, author of Victim Meets Offender, Professor, School of Social Work, University of Minnesota
