Samenvatting

Responding to Bouverne-De Bie and Roose Walgrave stresses the importance of using a narrow definition of restorative justice as a way of doing justice by repairing the harm caused by crime. This narrow definition alone allows for the development of a consistent praxis and theory of restorative justice and for adequate research of its effects. Restorative Justice cannot offer the ´politically critical´ social praxis on the interface between the public and the private world that Bouverne-De Bie and Roose would like to see. But the apparent influence that basic concepts and ideas of restorative justice have on social practices outside the sphere of criminal justice imply that such social practices and restorative justice praxis can work in the same direction by avoiding stigmatization and exclusion and promoting redress and inclusion.