Two of the most influential developments within criminal justice policy in recent years have been the rise of a victim-focused agenda and the emergence of a distinctive set of practices known as ‘restorative justice. Dignan explores the origins of these two sets of developments and offers an analytical framework to map out the relationships between restorative justice and other victim-focused approaches. He analyses different models of restorative approaches, including victim–offender mediation, family group conferencing, police-led conferencing and reparation boards, and looks at how these differ in terms of goals, focus, the way they work, and their impact on victims. In addition, he assesses the strengths and weaknesses of these practices in meeting the needs of victims as part of the overall response to crime. Written in an engaging and accessible style, this book is for students from a range of disciplines including criminology, sociology and law, and is of value to professionals, practitioners and policy makers working in voluntary agencies within the criminal justice system.

The Austrian needs lots of persuading to have his traditions tampered with in the name of modernization and efficiency. He is attached to his sausage, his insipid beer, and the young white wine that tastes so remarkably like iron filings. He prefers the familiar, tried, and tested to the novelty, the latter almost certainly being an attempt by persons unknown to make money at his expense.