It is inadequate for justice processes to return wrongdoers to the situations of harm which gave rise to their offending behaviour. Yet, it is not clear that restorative justice is capable of being an effective instrument of social justice. An approach may be required which combines both the incrementalist or gradualist approach to social change taken by restorative justice and more radical structural change as a result of, for instance, mobilising grassroots movements. There may also be an important role for Christian theology, in terms of holding restorative justice to account. Whilst acknowledging that, in the public square, theological insights must be validated on common ground, the effectiveness of restorative justice in society may be challenged by, and ultimately benefit from, radical commitments to tackling structures of power and living out a preferential option for the poor sometimes found in the Christian tradition.