Restorative justice: Adopting a whole system approach to address cultural barriers in criminal justice

It is now 25 years since restorative justice was first introduced into criminal justice policy in England and Wales. It was hailed as a justice mechanism that could address the needs of both victims and offenders, reduce re-offending and decrease public expenditure. But despite (inter)national instruments mandating government and criminal justice agencies to provide restorative justice services, significant implementation and delivery gaps remain and victim participation continues to be low. Adopting a ‘whole system approach’ framework, this article analyses and syntheses extant scholarly literature which has examined the implementation and delivery challenges restorative justice faces in becoming embedded as a key criminal justice mechanism. The article argues that a ‘whole system’ approach, which involves systemic change and a fundamental cultural shift across the entire criminal justice system, is necessary to fully embed restorative justice within the criminal justice system. Until such an approach is implemented, victims will continue to be denied the opportunity to participate in restorative justice and it will remain an optional extra justice mechanism.