Incarceration by itself may be considered a relatively easy sentence compared to the restorative justice approach that holds offenders directly accountable to victims, confronts them with the personal harm they have caused, and requires that they make real amends to the victim and the community. In the existing system, offenders are in a passive role. In a restorative justice system, they become active participants in reparation. All parties should be included in the response to crime including the offender, the community, and the victim if they wish. The victim is central to the process of defining the harm and how it might be repaired.
Accountability is based on accepting responsibility and repairing the harm done.
Crime is defined as an act against another person and the community, rather than an act against the state. The state has an interest in resolving the problem but is not the primary actor. The offender becomes accountable to the victim and the community, not the state. Restoration or making things right replaces the imposition of punishment for its own sake as the highest priority of the system. Restitution would become common, not the exception.