Book Review: The Pocket Guide to Restorative Justice

AuthorChris Whitaker
Published date01 December 2009
DOI10.1177/026975800901600307
Date01 December 2009
Subject MatterBook Reviews
341
THE
POCKET
GUIDE
TO
RESTORATIVE
JUSTICE
Pete
Wallis
and
Barbara
Tutor.
Jessica Kingsley Publishers,
London.
2007.
87
pp.
£8.69.
Paperback.
ISBN
1-843-10629-9.
This
title provides a brief
summary
of restorative justice,
its
principles
and
how
restorative justice processes
may
be
facilitated
in
applied
settings.
The
Pocket
Guide
is
not intended
as
a comprehensive reference
resource,
but
does
provide
practical
advice
and
guidance
for
practitioners.
It
may
also
be
of interest
to
students
of
criminology
and
criminal
justice
who
wish
to
gain
an
insight
into
how
restorative justice
may
operate.
An
introduction provides a brief outline of restorative justice
and
the
principles
this
seeks
to
follow.
Given
the
brevity of
this
introduction,
this
is
a
little over simplistic
in
places.
Subsequent chapters
focus
on
how
restorative
justice processes
may
be
organised,
drawing
from
a combination of
research
evidence
and
the
authors' experiences of restorative justice processes.
The
chapters
are
structured
in
a logical order, designed
to
provide a practitioner
with
an
overview of restorative justice processes
from
commencement
to
conclusion.
The
text
has
a
number
of
positive
features,
including a slender
size
and
a
writing style
which
make
the
title
an
accessible
read
for
its
intended practitioner
audience. A
good
level
of
detail
is
also
provided
in
the
chapters
which
address
setting
up
and
conducting restorative justice
meetings.
Coverage
of
issues
to
be
addressed
from
the
perspective
of
meeting
facilitators, offenders
and
victims
ensures that
issues
for
all
parties
are
considered.
The
longest chapter of
the
text
which
focuses
on
a restorative
meeting
breaks
this
down
into
five
stages
so
that
key
issues
at
each
stage
are
considered.
A last chapter
on
'Recording
and
evaluation' contains
advice
on
discussing
restorative processes
with
the
media
which
is
less
useful. A further
improvement
to
the
text
would
be
greater attention
to
possible
drawbacks
of
restorative justice
and
its
use
in
applied
settings.
Overall,
as
a text that
is
designed
to
be
used
as
an
accompaniment
to
other restorative justice titles,
The
Pocket
Guide
to
Restorative Justice
would
be
a useful addition
to
practitioner
libraries.
Chris
Whitaker
PhD
Candidate
School
ofLaw,
University of Sheffield
UK

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