Restorative justice is a term that refers to a number of initiatives that hold offenders directly accountable to victims and the community. Victim-offender mediation is the most common restorative justice program in the United States. As a set of values, restorative justice offers promise in regard to promoting and strengthening community bonds by addressing the criminal harm done to victims and communities. This form of dispensing justice is rooted in the rituals of Indigenous populations as they settled disputes in sentencing circles. Restorative justice aims to change the direction of criminal law by focusing it on the needs of victims and on repairing communities. The focus is relevant to the field of social work because social workers have caseloads of people who have been victimized by crime or who are ordered by the court into treatment because of offending behavior. The core values of social work are social justice, dignity and worth of a person, importance of human relationships, integrity, and competence. Restorative justice relates closely to social justice or fairness in that the victims of offenders each have their interests represented in the proceedings. Restorative justice has been found to be highly effective in minority communities through embracing members of the extended family. These communities include Native American, African American, and Latino traditions, which are collectively rather than individually focused. Forgiveness can be a powerful force for both victim and offender. Social workers can play a key role in helping participants deal with these strong feelings. Effective strategies for restorative justice advocacy include embarking on cost-effective analyses of ongoing programs, engaging in special outreach efforts to victim/witness assistance groups, and uniting with progressives in the field of criminal justice. 7 references