Handbook on Restorative justice programmes

Defining the outcome/agreement to be attained: Some of the out-
comes of the restorative justice processes can include: apologies; verbal
and/or written agreements/undertakings; promises about future behav-
iour; restitution/compensation; or community service. However, defining
the outcomes that will be sought through the restorative process is a lot
more complicated than choosing a few from the above list. It also involves
defining how these agreements will be monitored, whether they will be
judicially sanctioned or not, and if so, how the judicial supervision of the
agreement will take place and what compliance monitoring mechanisms
will need to be established and which agency will be responsible for them.
It also means developing agreed upon procedures about what will happen
in cases where there is a failure to implement the agreement and who will
be responsible for taking action, notifying the victim and the community
and ensuring the referring agency is made aware of the situation. 
A distinction is sometimes made between deep versus surface approaches
to resolving disputes. In every restorative justice programme, managers
and practitioners have a critical choice between taking a deep approach or
a surface approach to the way their processes and meetings are run. While
the surface approach is focused on reaching tangible agreements and cer-
tain fairly specific outcomes, the broader objectives of restorative justice
would include closure, reconciliation, and healing which would normally
dictate a deeper approach and require a genuine empowerment of the pri-
mary participants.
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chapter 4