Samenvatting

Many researchers have recently shifted their focus to opening the black box of restorative justice and answering the question how restorative justice works. Which theoretical assumptions are best suited to explain the relative success of restorative justice in terms of a sense of responsibility in perpetrators and reduced feelings of fear and grief in victims? This contribution discusses a number of promising, recent studies that pay attention to the how-question mentioned (how do 'positive' results come about, and what specific factors influence this?), in combination with the question for whom (which victims and offenders participate and what are their needs?) and the question in which context (which offenses lend themselves to restorative justice encounters?).