The idea is more full. For us as Christians, the focus is on a biblical concept, shalom. Although shalom, a Hebrew word, is often translated as meaning peace, it is not simply the absence of conflict. This is the sort of peace we strive for in restorative justice, he said. It focuses not on the offender but on the harm that has been done.
Crime injures victims.
And people who commit crimes not only are doing destructive things, they are violating the community. If members of the community are forced to curtail their activities at night, put bars on their windows or alter their travel routes, their peace, their shalom, is disturbed. Restorative justice tries to recognize that. The old way of looking a crime, Beckner said, is to define it as the violation of a law. Under restorative justice, crime is seen primarily as a conflict between individuals that results in injury to the victim, the community and perhaps to the offender.