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. Results in a restorative justice model are measured not by how much punishment was inflicted, but by how much reparation was achieved.
Crime control rests primarily with the social system.
The criminal justice system can have only a marginal impact on the level of crime because it can only respond to crime after it occurs. Offenders are accountable for their individual choices, but communities are also accountable for the conditions which may exist that contribute to crime. A 1991 statewide public opinion survey asked residents about their support for the underlying concepts of restorative justice. Mutual responsibility between individual and community is the loom on which the fabric of community is woven. Crime represents a failure of responsibility.