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The view of restorative justice and the balanced approach is that
justice is best served, both practically and conceptually, when the
needs of the victim, the community, and the offender are all met and
each is involved in the process to the greatest extent possible.
The balanced approach was developed to serve as a guide for implementing
a restorative vision in juvenile justice systems. The balanced approach
provides a road map to help administrators achieve the following:
The restorative justice view is that true balance is achieved only
when the needs of victims, offenders, and the community are considered
in each case and within the system as a whole.
Restorative justice elevates the role of the victim in the juvenile
justice process by giving high priority to victim involvement and
reparation (Bazemore, G., and M. Umbreit, 1995). For years, juvenile
justice systems focused only on the needs and risks of offenders,
leaving victims with a lot of catching up to do. Most juvenile justice
systems will need to give primary attention to increasing their responsiveness
to the needs of crime victims. While advocating for the rights of
victims and their involvement in the system, restorative justice also
concerns itself with the needs of offenders and communities. In fact,
restorative justice recognizes three stakeholders or coparticipants
in any "justice" process—the victim, the offender, and the community
(Zehr, H., 1990; Van Ness, D., 1993).
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The information on this page is archived and provided for reference purposes only.
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sign of hope for linking victims' needs and involvement to a revitalized
juvenile justice mission has been the rise in interest in restorative
justice and the "balanced approach" (Bazemore, G., and M. Umbreit, 1995;
Bazemore, G., and S. Day, 1996). Restorative justice provides a new
"lens" for viewing the problem of crime and a new paradigm for thinking
about the justice response to criminal behavior. Rather than the question
of guilt and what should be done to punish or treat the offender, restorative
justice suggests that the most important fact about crime is that it
causes harm to individuals and communities. "Justice" should, therefore,
focus on the repair of this harm (Zehr, H., 1990).
