Vol. 7, Issue 2, Part F (2025)

Restorative justice has emerged as a transformative framework that prioritizes healing, accountability, and community involvement in addressing harm. From a victimological perspective, restorative justice offers a pathway for trauma recovery that extends beyond traditional punitive justice systems. This approach emphasizes dialogue, empathy, and the validation of victims’ experiences, allowing them to regain a sense of control, dignity, and safety after victimization. By fostering direct or mediated communication between victims, offenders, and community members, restorative processes address the psychological and emotional dimensions of harm, promoting both individual and collective healing. This review explores the intersection between restorative justice principles and trauma-informed practices, highlighting how restorative models such as victim-offender mediation, family group conferencing, and community reparative boards facilitate emotional restoration, empowerment, and reintegration. The study explains that when restorative justice is implemented with sensitivity to trauma, it can reduce post-traumatic stress, prevent re-victimization, and rebuild social trust. However, the paper also critically discusses the ethical challenges and contextual limitations of applying restorative justice across diverse cultural and legal systems. Ultimately, a victim-centered restorative approach offers a promising avenue for transforming justice systems into spaces of healing, resilience, and empowerment for trauma survivors.