The current criminal justice system is based on a retributive justice model, with new solutions to escalating prison populations also based on the concept of punishment. Punishment has failed as a deterrent. Restorative justice, on the other hand, would take away the State's power to punish criminals and focus instead on how the offender could repair the damage done to crime victims and himself. Alternatives to inflicting pain through imprisonment should be explored. Low incarceration rates in the Netherlands should be examined as well as victim-offender mediation programs carried out in Great Britain. It is important to search for a new understanding of the role of the criminal justice system and a new language of justice. 27 references.