The literature analyzed included advocacy, evaluation, program, and policy literature. Results revealed that community-based and prison-based victim-offender reconciliation and mediation programs have been in use for approximately 20 years and have been researched in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Family group conferences began in New Zealand, are used extensively there and in Australia, and exist to lesser extents in other countries. Victim impact panels, Navajo peacemaker courts, sentencing circles, expressions of forgiveness, and marae justice in New Zealand are additional forms of restorative justice. Initial research results are encouraging, but further issues need attention. Among issues to be addressed are how to integrate restorative justice options and processes into generally retributive government policies, how to focus more concretely on the role of victims in restorative justice, staff training, and the need for further research. Notes and 60 references