Advocates of restorative justice question the state's ability to deliver satisfactory justice. This provocative collection looks at the burgeoning restorative justice movement and considers the relationship between restorative justice and civil society.

1. Introduction: restorative justice and civil society John Braithwaite and Heather Strang; 2. Transforming security: a South African experiment Clifford Shearing; 3. Two Protestant ethics and the spirit of restoration Lawrence Sherman; 4. The force of community George Pavlich; 5. The crime victim movement as a force in civil society Heather Strang; 6. Reparations and restorative justice: responding to the gross violation of human rights Chris Cunneen; 7. Restorative justice and civil society in Melanesia: the case of Papua New Guinea Sinclair Dinnen; 8. Restorative justice in everyday life: beyond the formal ritual Ted Wachtel and Paul McCold; 9. Community conferencing as a special case of conflict transformation John McDonald and David Moore; 10. Restorative justice and the need for restorative environments in bureaucracies and corporations James Ritchie and Terry O'Connell; 11. 'If your only tool is a hammer, all your problems will look like nails' Sir Charles Pollard; 12. Restorative justice and school discipline: mutually exclusive? Lisa Cameron and Margaret Thorsborne; 13. The school system: developing its capacity in the regulation of civil society Brenda Morrison; 14. Security and justice for all David Bayley.