Moral Transformation and Reintegration in Indonesia’s Structured Restorative Justice Program: A Lived Experience Study

Abstract

Restorative justice has gained increasing attention in criminal justice reform, offering an alternative to punitive models by emphasizing healing, accountability, and reintegration. However, existing studies have largely focused on institutional outcomes, leaving the subjective experiences of formerly incarcerated individuals in restorative rehabilitation programs underexplored. What remains unclear is how these individuals make sense of their moral, emotional, and social transformation throughout the rehabilitation process. This study uses an interpretative phenomenological approach to explore the lived experiences of former inmates who participated in a restorative justice-based program. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight participants, and data were analyzed using a six-step interpretative phenomenological analysis framework. Three major themes emerged: moral transformation through self-forgiveness, reconstruction of social identity, and the role of interpersonal and institutional support. Participants described rehabilitation as a deeply personal and relational journey, shaped by emotional reflection, dialogic encounters, and renewed social belonging. The findings provide a richer understanding of rehabilitation as a meaning-making process rather than mere behavioral change. These results contribute to expanding the scope of restorative justice research by highlighting the internal dimensions of reform and offering implications for more human-centered rehabilitation policies. Future studies should examine how cultural and institutional contexts shape the meanings individuals assign to justice and reintegration.