For the first time, restorative justice will be the focus of a prestigious series such as the International Handbooks. The aim of the Handbook is to provide scholars, students and policymakers from around the world with a definite, up-to-date resource on restorative justice with a comprehensive and authoritative review of its research in new and contested areas. A secondary objective is to support innovative practice in restorative justice including but not limited to mediation (direct and indirect), conferencing, circles, board and panels. Particular attention is paid to grey areas of practice.
 
Bringing together contributors from across a range of jurisdictions, disciplines and legal traditions, the book will provide a concise but critical review of existing and new theory and practice in restorative justice. Authors will identify the key developments, theoretical arguments and new empirical evidence relevant to their specific issue or concept, evaluating their merits and demerits, and then turn attention to further questions or concerns that will inform and improve the future of restorative justice.
 
Restorative justice is a fast growing field and thus this up-dated handbook is overdue. The Handbook will publish papers that have not been appeared elsewhere and which will bring to the fore ground-breaking research and new normative propositions in contested areas in restorative justice. The chapters will be written by leading and established researchers and practitioners in restorative justice, making the companion a valuable reference resource. Although the Handbook will aim to address first the fields of criminology and law, the contributors will also draw from a number of different disciplines. As a cross-discipline, restorative justice must look beyond the law for its future development, and this volume will help the field achieve this objective. The authors will also be encouraged to survey the current state of research on each topic, including their own work, but not to the exclusion of others.  The chapters will be similar to sophisticated review, empirical papers or literature survey articles.  As the subject is continually evolving, the contributors will be asked to reflect current thinking, but also point to directions for future research. 
 
The companion is divided into four parts, dealing with: Theory | Practice | Critical Thinking | The Future |
 
This approach will allow contemporary theoretical and normative questions to be addressed and developed at the beginning of the collection. The book will then move on to answer empirical questions around restorative justice practice. The third section will engage the reader with key critiques of restorative justice making the volume a truly balanced contribution. Finally, the last section will look into the future, and posit key recommendations for policy, research and practice, providing much needed questions for further exploration.
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Book audience: Senior-level capstone courses and upper-level seminars that review and expand on key areas of study in restorative justice, criminology, social sciences, social theory, psychology and positive psychology, law, neuroscience, human rights, criminal justice, and political science departments. The book is also intended for researchers, policymakers, practitioners and campaigners from around the world.
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"Now, in its second generation, restorative justice is not a wild dream:  it is a reality, and I for one am energized by the new and younger voices that are emerging.
 
It is important to open space for these new voices and emerging themes. As a first-generation developer and practitioner, now at the end of my career, it seems appropriate that this may be the last book forward I write for the field. It is time to make room for others of this new generation.  Much appreciation to Theo Gavrielides, himself a representative of this new generation, for leading the way through this Handbook"
Professor Howard Zehr (Distinguished Professor of Restorative Justice, Co-Director, Zehr Institute for Restorative Justice, Center for Justice & Peacebuilding, Eastern Mennonite University, USA).
 
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"This book is perhaps the most comprehensive and certainly the most up-to-date collection on restorative justice. It goes to some topics rarely addressed in earlier volumes … and embraces a wider range of critiques of restorative justice than most volumes on the subject … Furthermore, in its geographical coverage, this international Handbook is much broader than older collections … We are grateful to Theo Gavrielides for bringing so many voices into the conversation.  Many inspiring restorative justice leaders in the past have mobilized convening power toward projects of listening, but none more widely nor in more diverse ways than Theo Gavrielides in recent years."
Professor John Braithwaite (Distinguished Professor and Founder of RegNet (the Regulatory Institutions Network) at the Australian National University, Australia).
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"A decade after the first two “Handbooks of Restorative Justice”, this successor comes timely. It is an update of developments in ideas and current debates, and of a great part of the relevant literature. A new generation of authors is emerging. Restorative justice researchers, advocates and critics should have it."
Professor Lode Walgrave, Professor of Criminology at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, chair of the International Network for Research in Restorative Justice for Juveniles and editor of Restorative Justice and the Law, Belgium.
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"In its breadth and depth, this impressive collection represents a new chapter in one of the most remarkable stories in criminal justice of the past century.  Restorative justice has grown from the radical, abstract vision of 30 years ago into a fully fledged field of study and practice, worthy of this important international handbook." 
Professor Shadd Maruna, author of Making Good: How Ex-Convicts Reform and Rebuild Their Lives.
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"This book offers thoughtful and varied approaches to reconciliation and community resilience. As readers, we see that inclusive approaches to justice--involving loved ones, community support systems, and cultural context--offer real hope for renewal and personal peace. This book challenges the punitive aspects of the current criminal justice system, to be sure, but also offers practical tools for transformative leaders to nurture restoration, reformation, and healing. A pathway forward is found through the wisdom of the scholars here, all of whom are committed to restorative justice and a more resilient future".
Prof. Maya Soetoro University of Hawaii Manoa