Introduction: Restorative justice - steps on the way toward a good idea. Restorative justice in western nations: Restorative justice on trial in Britain; Implementation and acceptance of victim-offender mediation programs in the Federal Republic of Germany - A survey of criminal justice institutions; The New Zealand experience implementing the reparation sentence; Can restitution serve as a reasonable alternative to imprisonment? An assessment of the situation in the USA; Victim-offfender mediation - japanese and american comparisons; The Norwegian community mediation centers at a crossroads; The process of mediation in Finland - A special reference to the question 'how to get cases for mediation?'; Same programmes, different outcomes. The use of English alternative practices for juveniles in the Netherlands; The Austrian Juvenile Justice Act 1988. A new practice and new problems; Penal and community mediation - the case of France; Reparation, mediation and Scottish criminal justice; Victim-offender reconciliation - program and outcomes; Mediation and reconciliation models in italian legal experience; A review of research dealing with views on financial restitution. Legal constraints and public needs:Diversion and juvenile justice. Can we ever get it right?; A survey on public acceptance of restitution as an alternative to incarceration for property offenders in Hennepin County, Minnesota,USA; Victim offender reconciliation schemes in the Greek justice system; Morality, symbolism, and criminal law - chances limits of mediation programs; Reflections on the role of the media in the English criminal justice system; Mediation involving children in the .S. - legal and ethical conflicts. A policy discussion and research questions; Mediation and community service as models of restorative approach - why would it be better? Explicating the objectives as criteria for evaluation; The new juvenile penal procedure code and the reparation-reconciliation process in Italy - A chance for a possible change. Applying restorative justice to offenders: Applying restitutive justice to young offenders - observations from the United Kingdom; Minors and deviance - the role of social services and the local community; The role of social services and local community; The role of probation in restitution procedures; Adult probation in America - Its role in restorative justice; Juvenile delinquency in Turkey. The mediation process:Mediation - A romantic ideal or a workable alternative; Mediating victim-offender conflict - from single-site to multi-site analysis in the U.S.; Reparation in the UK - Dominant themes and neglected themes; Communication in decision-making about diversion and victim-offender mediation; Mediation in divorce - does the process match the rhetorie?; Organizational demands on mediation programs - problems of realization; Approaching mediation in juvenile court - rationale and methodological aspects; 'WAAGE Hannover E.V.' - A reconciliation and restitution program for adult offenders and victims - the concept for practice and research; Toward a restoration of justice: Victim-offender mediation as a step towards a restorative system of justice; The function of forgiveness in the criminal justice system; Restitution, reconciliation, retribution - identifying the forms of justice people desire; Mediation interventions and restorative justice. Responding to the astructural bias; Restitution and ethics - as aristotelian approach.