One of the greatest criticisms of the traditional criminal justice system from victims' rights groups has been that it virtually ignores the victim's needs and interests. Retributive justice views crime as violating the state and its laws. Restorative justice views crime as violating people and relationships. Retributive justice focuses on establishing guilt. Restorative justice aims to identify needs and obligations.
Retributive justice metes out doses of pain to the guilty.
Restorative justice attempts to make things right again as far as that is possible. Restorative justice is conducted through dialogue, mutual agreement, and an exchange of information. In a courtroom, the offender is pitted against the state. In a restorative justice setting, both the victim and the offender have central roles. Rules and intentions outweigh outcomes in the retributive system, and one side wins and the other loses.