The Little Book of Restorative Justice for People in Prison: Rebuilding the Web of Relationships

Over 170,000 copies sold! Restorative justice argues that crime destroys people and relationships. Justice, then, must repair and rebuild people and relationships. This is true for men and women that are incarcerated as it is for victims.

The more than 2.3 million incarcerated individuals in the United States are often regarded as a throw-away population. While the criminal-justice system focuses on giving offenders "what they deserve," it does little to restore the needs created by crime or to explore the factors that lead to it. Restorative justice, with its emphasis on identifying the justice needs of everyone involved in a crime, is helping to restore prisoners' sense of humanity while holding them accountable for their actions.

In this book, Barb Toews, with years of experience in prison work, shows how people in prison can live restorative-justice principles. She shows how these practices can change prison culture and society. Chapters include;

• Crime and Criminal Justice
• Restorative Justice
• Reconnecting Community
• Reconnecting Individuals
• Reconnecting Victims and Their Communities of Care
• Reconnecting Offenders
• Reconnecting Offenders' Families
• Restorative-Justice Practices
• Restorative Practices, Justice, and Prison
• Restorative Living in Prison

Written for readers who are incarcerated, and for all those who work with people in prison, this book also clearly outlines the experiences and needs of this under-represented and often overlooked part of our society.


About the Author
Barb Toews is the Restorative Justice Program Manager for the Pennsylvania Prison Society, a position in which she creates and facilitates a variety of educational and experiential restorative justice programs in Pennsylvania prisons. Prior to this, she was the founding director of the Lancaster (PA) Area Victim-Offender Reconciliation Program. With more than fourteen years in the field, she is an experienced trainer, educator, and practitioner of restorative justice and victim-offender mediation.