Iro Michael, Psychologist, MA Criminology; PhD student, Sociology Department, Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences, Athens, Greece; Senior Project Officer, Restorative Justice for All (RJ4All) Institute; Accredited Mediator, Cyprus
 
"Restorative Justice in prison settings is a controversial topic both on theoretical and on applied level, as it raises a number of dilemmas and challenges to be explored and managed. While prison possesses its structural power over people through control, stigma and marginalization, Restorative Justice (RJ) embraces its “ethos” on human relationships, peacebuilding and reintegration (Gavrielides, 2007; Braithwaite, 1989, 1999). The implementation of RJ in prisons can involve many actors (such as the victims, the offenders/prisoners, their families, the prison staff and administration, government bodies, support and rehabilitation services) and a variety of schemes (such us victim-imprisoned offender mediation, inner-prison conflict resolution, imprisoned offender-family reconciliation, community reintegration schemes, etc.).  Current and future researches study the effectiveness of RJ application in custodial settings both on individual and collective levels, and evaluate the extent that RJ principles and values are maintained in the special context of prison (e.g. Toews, 2006; Edgar and Newell, 2006; Gavrielides, 2011)..."