Restorative Justice encourages dialogue and negotiations between individuals or groups that are in conflict with one another. It encourages them to deal with one another directly, not just through proxy professionals, such as lawyers or diplomats. It promotes a problem-solving approach, not an adversarial one. It is not content with fixing blame and punishing someone but rather fosters truth telling, repentance, reconciliation, and healing for all parties in a given situation. Restorative justice advocates restitution to the victim by the offender rather than retribution by the state against the offender.