Handbook on Restorative justice programmes

participating in a restorative justice process. Probation supervision per-
sonnel and other front-line workers should be encouraged to utilize
restorative approaches in carrying out their work. This may require them
to acquire new skills.
Criminal justice practitioners and community volunteers involved in a
programme require effective training on the techniques and skills that
they will need in order to feel confident participating in the new processes.
An additional strategy that can be utilized to overcome the reservations of
criminal justice professionals as to the value of restorative practices is to
convince them to participate in a restorative process. On this personal
level, reportedly sceptical senior police executives, prosecutors and judges
may soon become zealous advocates. On the other hand, one issue that
occurs is that organizations may “symbolically” adopt restorative justice
processes by labelling current practices as “restorative”, thus avoiding the
required changes in policy and orientation that are required by true
restorative justice practices.
It is also important to identify and recruit allies who will actively support
the proposed changes. It is equally important to identify individuals in key
positions in the justice system who are amenable to adopting participatory
and restorative approaches and championing them. Key stakeholders
must themselves get involved in planning and implementing the changes 
to existing processes at an early stage of programme development.
Prosecutors, for example, are in a key position to refer cases to new
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