Category Archives: restorative practices

Finding a place in restorative justice – Georgia State University

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If you’re passionate about restorative justice, Atlanta’s Georgia State University is interested in hearing about the work you are doing.

A few years ago, Georgia State University created an online clearinghouse on restorative justice. I’ve been exploring it for a couple of years.  It’s an outstanding resource.

Carolyn Benne, peacemaker, GSU, restorative justice

An avid advocate for Restorative Justice, GSU’s Carolyn Benne calls for input from restorative justice practitioners for the website.

Carolyn Benne worked with GSU’s law school and the school of social work, using a combination of federal funds and foundation grants, to make this project happen.  GSU’s I.T. sharpies helped her with the mechanics. No doubt, Carolyn drew on her business, legal and organizational skills to navigate the inter-departmental politics and launch the site.  Her multiple degrees from Duke University probably came into play, too.

The site has been around awhile, and now it’s time to beef up the base and get serious about the business of Restorative Justice in the southeastern U.S.

The intent of the GSU website is to enhance and strengthen the RJ field by:

  • Sharing knowledge;
  • Explicitly seeking opportunities to connect people and scholars with one another;
  • Exposing users to both knowledge and programmatic activities that might spark creativity, broaden applications of RJ principles and improve RJ practices; and,
  • Offering a social networking activity that strengthens connectivity among RJ people, scholars, and those seeking restorative justice information, especially in the Southeastern US.

Recently, Carolyn Benne wrote to supporters:

“We would like to establish a core of at least 50 initial entries so that we can distribute the site more broadly and have some actual “substance” to share. [Editor's Note: the site always has included plenty of substance.]  We’re starting with people like you, whom we’ve worked with before, so that we know that the foundation on which we are building will be strong.  Our objective is to form communities of practice and initiate scholarly work from the connections made on the site.

Carolyn Benne, GSU, restorative justice, peacemaking

Georgia State University (GSU) hosts a valuable regional clearninghouse for restorative justice.

A crying need in the restorative justice field is to create a solid database of research which demonstrates the effectiveness of restorative practices as compared to the more harsh practices of the punishment-oriented criminal justice system.

As a reader of Fairnessworks.com, it’s possible you’re not professional practitioner of restorative justice.  But chances are high that you want to help build a structure for peacemaking and restorative practices.  Search your mind and share this message with any professionals who might want to join the GSU network. These might include counselors, lawyers, social workers, law enforcement officers, ministers or teachers. Or even parents and coaches who routinely handle conflicts and want to handle them better.  Consider asking someone to submit an entry.

As Carolyn writes:

It’s very easy to submit an entry.  Just go to the site:
http://whatisrestorativejustice.org, and click on the “share” tab in the upper right corner.  The instructions are right there.  You don’t need to write very much.  A few lines with your perspective are all we’re looking for.

If you have ideas, or would like to learn more about building an outstanding resource for restorative principles, please contact Carolyn.  Here is her contact info:

Carolyn G. Benne
Director, CNCR
College of Law
Georgia State University
404-413-9059

Georgians and southeastern U.S. residents have an amazing resource in GSU and in Carolyn Benne.  I hope you will send her your support!

 

In-depth forgiveness story in NYT is a major boost to Restorative Justice

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Seldom do the mainstream media invest serious column inches in Restorative Justice.  Monday’s New York Times broke the long silence in its groundbreaking journalism, headlined: ‘Can Forgiveness Play a Role in Criminal Justice?‘

Friends, this is an article that screams, “Forward Me!.”

In a nutshell, freelance writer Paul Tullis chronicles the tragic story of two Florida families facing a murder among loved ones.  A teenage son, Conor McBride, shot in the head his girlfriend, Ann Margaret Grosmaire, killing her after 30-plus hours of fighting and arguing in person, on the phone and in text messages.

Conor Mcbride, killed his fiancee Ann Margaret Grosmaire.

Florida teen, Conor McBride, who shot his girlfriend of three years in the head, killing her, is the recipient of family forgiveness.

Parents with deep and abiding faith chose to forgive the slaughter.  There is nothing glib in this story. A grueling process ensued, which is described in the NYT story.  Not a single participant is “soft on crime.”  The hard work of justice that restores is depicted in this complex drama.

The surviving families confront the limitations of a criminal justice system, which is focused primarily on dispensing severe punishment.  In the face of their decisions to choose the painful path of forgiveness, they encounter the shortcomings of the punitive criminal justice system at every turn.

Their decisions to forgive run counter to the prevailing system of severe punishment.

Writer Paul Tullis does not gloss over the ambiguities of a restorative justice approach.  There is nothing simple about this process. But he describes the intensity of the restorative community conference, consisting of everyone touched by the tragedy, including the prosecutor, the families of the son and daughter, a pastor and the attorneys involved in the process.

Tullis is especially effective in describing how the restorative justice process attempts to address the harms perpetrated on human beings who are the victims of crimes.  Giving crime victims the opportunity to be heard, at length, about the harms done to them is a central feature of restorative justice.

As the nation faces the impossibility of warehousing ever-increasing numbers of its citizens, stories about the healing available through restorative processes are certain to gain wider acceptance.  Finding ways of reconciling victims and offenders with each other will be increasingly crucial to the systems we use to seek justice.

Restorative Practices in Response to Bullying Gain a Slight Foothold in Schools

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School has been back in session in the U.S. for awhile now and officials are dealing with bullying issues once again.

There is spotty evidence that some districts are looking beyond Zero Tolerance policies and automatic expulsion or suspension of kids who bully their classmates. In these districts, there is a conscious policy choice to use restorative practices first instead of punitive practices such as expulsion and suspension.

In the Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, School District, schools are implementing a comprehensive change program to address bullying, known as the SaferSanerSchools Whole School Change Program, developed by the International Institute for Restorative Practices (IIRP).

Rather than reflexively opt for immediate expulsion or suspension of kids who bully others, these districts are attempting to bring the bullied and the bully together with all their classmates into restorative circles to address the misbehavior as a community. The goal is accountability and community restoration rather than isolation, alienation, suspension, expulsion and stigmatization. It’s a first step toward interrupting the schools-to-prison pipeline.

It’s a risky proposition, and it takes more time than a rigid “throw the bully out” approach. But it holds the real possibility of keeping the bullying offender and the bullying victim together in community, rather than placing one more child in the school-to-prison pipeline. The statistics on expulsion and suspension are clear: each incident of suspension or expulsion increases the child’s chances of ending up in prison.

Programs such as SaferSanerSchools requires participation of the entire school community, from students and teachers to administrators, parents and even cafeteria and janitorial staffs. Successful implementation requires involvement of the entire community, since bullying affects everyone in the school community.

In one dramatic example:

Suspensions, expulsions, fights, bullying and other forms of poor student behavior dropped at Freedom and Liberty high schools during the 2011-12 school year, documents show.
The improved discipline picture is a reversal of 2009-10 and 2010-11 when infractions went up in the Bethlehem Area School District‘s two high schools as part of a district-wide increase of 36 percent.
Compared with the 2010-11 school year, suspensions dropped 20 percent to 978 in 2011-12. The number of students in suspension three times or more went down 43 percent to 493 at the two high schools over the same time frame, according to the Code of Conduct report, which separates offenses into three levels of severity.

Restorative practices and restorative circles allow the victims to be heard, the harms done to them to be recognized. Restorative practices even permit the bully to say why he or she was aggressive in the first place. Using restorative practices, all members of the community share in the process, expressing their experiences of the harms that have been done by the bullying of their fellow community members. All members of the community, all stakeholders, share a part in the communal response.

Ideally, even the parents of the bully and the bullied are present for the restorative circle conference. For restorative practices to have their maximum effect, all parties participate in these restorative circles, or accountability sessions, as the community asserts its values. Ideally, the bully and the bullied are restored to community and neither is stigmatized or ostracized.

For more information about restorative practices, contact:
IIRP Graduate School
531 Main St.
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA
(610) 807-9221

Circle keeper and ‘Seat of the pants Peacemaker’ –a guest post by restorative justice blogger Kris Miner

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I’m honored to share a guest posting today from Kris Miner, who blogs on restorative circle work at Circle-space.org.  A year ago, as I was finding my way into the Restorative Justice community, Kris was among the first RJ practitioners with extensive experience who responded to my online questions and encouraged me to pursue the goal of my blog — “Helping seat-of-the-pants peacemakers see they are not alone.”

It was a treat to meet her in person last June at the 3rd National Conference on Restorative Justice in Raleigh, NC.  The warmth I’d sensed in her blog postings was immediately evident in person.

Kris serves as Executive Director of the St. Croix Valley Restorative Justice Program in Wisconsin, and is an active Circle keeper, speaker, trainer and mentor, and a lifelong learner.   She writes, “I believe we are all both personal and professional and so sometimes I blog about my life.”  It is her ability to ability to blend and balance the personal and professional which conveys her wholeness and integrity, and it’s what draws me to her and her Circlespace.

If you like what she writes, I hope you’ll post a comment here and visit her blog.  (Since the beginning of Fairnessworks, her Circlespace has been featured on my blogroll.)
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‘Seat-of-the-pants Peacemaker’ and Circle keeper

Restorative Justice trainer and Circle Keeper, Kris Miner

Kris Miner, advocate of restorative practices, trainer, mentor and Circle keeper.

By Kris Miner

I believe in relationships, networking and being generous.  I appreciate my on-line networking and relationship opportunities.  When Ken invited me to do a guest post, I said yes immediately.  From the moment I heard Seat of the Pants Peacemaker, I loved it.  I’m a seat-of-my-pants kind of gal.

In a team project setting, a teammate was encouraging some details work, so we weren’t caught “with our pants down”.  I very seriously advised the group, I simply avoid getting caught with my pants down . . . . by not wearing pants!  That’s supposed to be funny on the literal level, it is so absurd; however, metaphorically, it is true.

I take my Circle work, very, very seriously.  You see, when you use humanity, people respond.  The work is very, very important.  Consider the last time, you really opened up to someone. Seldom do others respond to genuine, open vulnerability with harm.  If they do, (respond harmfully to a sincere and genuine opening of another) it speaks volumes about how hurt they really are.

I have been doing Circles for so long and so often, I am script-free.  What I say comes from the heart.  It comes from experiences of reading the emotional climate of the group [pullquote]‘…when you use humanity, people respond.’  [/pullquote]and guiding the process through four stages.  I do prep work with people when we are in a conflicted situation.  I have experience in building community and seeing what works.  For more on the many different Circles, www.circle-space.org.  For this post, I want to share what makes pants free Circle work happen.

‘ I work hard at being a dynamic public speaker and presenter.  I focus on delivering training and speeches that motivate, impact and inspire, while teaching the core foundations and philosophy of restorative justice.  Teaching people how to do it, is also very important.’ — from Circlespace blog. 

Seat of the pants Circle keeping is made possible by the support of a mentor.  Kay Pranis and I have known each other since the late 90’s.  I am fortunate enough to have her nearby geographically and she is always open to helping me out.  A mentor is only as good as your relationship.  I approach Kay with an openness for her feedback.  I reserve my questions when I really feel I need her guidance.  She recently participated in one of my Circles and her feedback meant so much, she literally wrote the book(s) on Circle.  Speaking of books.

[pullquote]‘Nothing lends to a skill set like experience.’[/pullquote]

Reading makes seat-of-the-pants Circlekeeping work.  Reading all I can from various styles of Circle keepers helps me understand how I utilize the process and what others are gaining from it.  Reading allows your mind to explore and understand in ways that  conversation, watching dvd’s, training or even being in Circle can provide.

Nothing lends to a skill set like experience.  They say it takes 10,000 hours to master a skill.  In the back of the Circle keeping manual I share a grid that shows moving from a novice to guru.  Creating Circles for your own experience is possible!  I met a woman at a coffee shop.  Just from commenting on her tattoo, we became friends and co-kept a women Circle.  When my daughter was a teen, I created a Circle for her and girls in her age range.  Circle work is about being human, about life experience, and nobody needs to be wearing pants to be human.
[Kris' mentor, Kay Pranis, wrote the classic The Little Book of Circle Processes.]
[amazon_enhanced asin="156148461X" /]

Washington state legislates restorative justice options for juvenile justice

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Another state has embraced restorative justice principles as an option available to its criminal justice responses to crimes in its juvenile justice system.

Washington state’s Senate unanimously passed House Bill 1775, initially introduced by Rep. Roger Goodman (D-Kirkland), after an earlier unanimous House vote in support of the Goodman bill in February. The bill now goes to Democratic  Governor Chris Gregoire for approval.

To urge Governor Gregoire to support HB 1775, go to http://www.governor.wa.gov/contact/.

Washington adopted its reforms just under a year after similar moves toward restorative justice were enacted in Colorado. In a recent guest post here, Jeannette Holtham reported on further hearings before the Colorado legislature to implement restorative justice practices in schools. The reform efforts have been ongoing, as eductors, parents and students spoke out against the school-to-prison pipeline.

“Washington is a national leader in using evidence-based strategies to reduce juvenile crime, and all of the evidence proves that restorative justice is very effective at changing the behavior of juveniles and making victims feel whole again,” Goodman told the Kirkland Reporter. Goodman serves as vice chair of the House Judiciary Committee.

Washington State's Representative Roger Goodman

Washington State's Representative Roger Goodman, sponsor of the unanimously passed law to include restorative practices among options for juvenile justice resources.

“It’s amazing that when an offender in a restorative justice program takes responsibility for a crime and says he’s sorry, the victim almost always says the offender is forgiven,” said Goodman.  “Instead of fueling a cycle of increasing alienation and crime, these programs encourage a cycle of restoration that reconnects the offender with the community and reduces repeat offenses,” Goodman said.

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Restorative Justice in action – Prison Fellowship’s Justice Fellowship offers key elements of effective restorative programs:

8 Restorative Justice Practices for Effective RJ Programs

  1. Make available victim-offender mediation sessions
  2. Create diversion programs that move nonviolent, minimal risk offenders out of prison and into community-based treatment
  3. Offer reentry preparation for offenders anticipating release
  4. Remove barriers to offenders’ successful reintegration into society, such as restrictions on residency or employment that are not necessary to protect public safety
  5. Modify prison sentence lengths to justly reflect the harm caused by the crime committed
  6. Protect offenders from violence while they are in prison
  7. Strengthen the families of offenders
  8. Increase opportunities for prisoners’ transformation by protecting their religious freedom and their access to mentoring relationships.

 

Restorative Justice in practice – Peter and Will transform relationship after victim-offender process

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In this blog I often use the phrase “Restorative Justice” and “restorative process,” assuming my readers know what I mean by the terms. Today, as I was reflecting on ways to communicate a concrete example of the process, I searched my online sources in Restorative Justice and found a video (below) which I hope you will watch and consider on the website of RestorativeJustice.org. If you like it, please share it with friends who care about peacemaking. (Hit “Reload” or “Refresh” on your browser if the video doesn’t immediately load.)

Watch and listen with an open heart to this example of restorative justice at work.  A lifelong repeat offender, a heroin addict, sits down with a victim of one of his crimes. [pullquote]This is not one of those prime time news videos in which the crime victim is given a few minutes to pour out her feelings in a an emotional victim impact statement, while the cameras roll. [/pullquote]This is a video documentation of a process in which a crime victim shares his sense of being violated, the sense of outrage, loss and damages he feels as a result of the offender’s crime. Often, there is a sense of impotence and powerlessness and a failure to  defend loved ones.

As a brief introduction to this restorative justice video, here’s a blurb from the website:

“Peter Woolf was a prolific offender, ensconced in a world of violence and depravity, who, by his own reckoning committed about 20,000 crimes. Then he burgled a house, fought with his victim and ended up in prison yet again. This time though it was different. Peter met with his victim, Will, in a restorative justice session that took place in the prison. The meeting changed both their lives for ever.”
[pullquote]Peter and Will tell their stories in this film which coincides with the launch of Peter’s book, The Damage Done published by Bantam Press and the launch of Why me? founded by Will, a campaign group set up by and for victims of crime who have benefited from restorative justice and want others to be able to benefit from the same opportunity.[/pullquote]

In our criminal justice system, the offender is defined as having committed a “crime against the state.” The victim of the crime is a bystander who sits in a public gallery, not a participant in the process. The person most directly harmed and affected by the crime is the one least involved in the process. They’re given no input into the proceedings.

In sharp contrast, a Restorative Justice process  (which is much more than a brief shouting and crying session with a counselor present) gives the crime victim an opportunity to ask the offender, “Why did you do that? Do you understand how that affects me?” And it gives the offender a chance to be accountable as a human being, and to share his(or her) own feelings in response to the confrontation or about the crime incident. In this video, the offender initiates real chanes in behavior. The offender-victim conferences give the victim of the crime a chance to express his/her rage, and a chance to acknowledge the humanity of the one responsible for the harm.  Restoration is more likely to occur in these settings than in a lengthy incarceration which is totally detached from the victims of the crime.

Please share this video posting with your social networks. I welcome your comments on this blog, too.

$6,800 lost per school student drop-out – and how Restorative Justice can stop the losses

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Editor’s Note:  It’s a treat to welcome back Jeannette Holtham as a guest blogger.  In making a case for exposing every school student and faculty member to restorative justice practices, she offers a “dollars and sense” rationale.  Jeannette may be reached at youthtransformationcenter@gmail.com.  If you like what she says, please post a comment here or drop her an email.

Colorado advocate of Restorative Justice practices in schools, Jeannette Holtham

Guest blogger Jeannette Holtham testified in support of SB 12-046 for restorative justice practices in Colorado schools.

Here’s a great math and logic problem:

 If a school loses $6,800 for each student that drops out of school, why would that school overuse suspension, expulsion or police ticketing that has contributed to the average 50% dropout rate in major metro cities across America?

I see you’re scratching your head on this one.  Okay, let’s add some examples to the equation just because I know you’re up for the challenge.  [pullquote]When Howard Zehr’s book Changing Lenses fell into Jeannette Holtham’s lap more than a decade ago—literally, from a library bookshelf—she began to read.  “The light just went on,” she says, as she read about this intriguing concept of restorative justice, a way to get offenders to be accountable for behaviors while making sure those they’d harmed got their needs met.[/pullquote]

 

 

An elementary school student accidentally breaks a knickknack on a teacher’s desk resulting in a police ticket for “criminal mischief.”  An 11-year-old swings a bean bag in the classroom and it slips out of his hands and hits the teacher.  The child is arrested for “third degree assault.”  A high school student puts a small cardboard soup container into a microwave to heat and doesn’t notice that it contains a thin foil sheet under the cover.

After it burns out the microwave the student is permanently expelled for “destroying school property.”  How about this one:  four brothers and sisters don’t come to school for six weeks.  The school files truancy charges and tells the students never to come back.  It’s discovered weeks later that the single Mom couldn’t afford shoes for her children.  Unfortunately, these are true stories from Colorado.[pullquote]Before she could take action on what she’d learned, however, she underwent a near-death, life-altering experience during surgery.  With a second chance to live, after twelve weeks of recovery, she went skydiving, a metaphor for her promise to God and the Universe to take more risks to help youth, particularly those dealing with high-risk factors such as suspension, expulsion, and incarceration. [/pullquote]

It doesn’t take a math whiz to see that the bottom line is red.  We taxpayers fund these ineffective punitive responses to wrongdoing (and believe you me, they are more prevalent than any of us would care to imagine).  Thankfully, restorative justice is a worldwide movement reaching critical mass and offers a powerful tool for those educators who are committed to keeping kids in school.  [pullquote]In 2005 Jeannette launched Youth Transformation Center, a non-profit organization dedicated to inspiring youth to leave risky behaviors behind and move toward healthier, more fulfilling lifestyles.  In her curriculum called “Boomerang,” teens invent a big dream for their lives and get re-energized about school as a stepping stone in their action plan for life.[/pullquote] There’s even hope for America where we have the highest incarceration rate in the “civilized” world, where 2,300 people who went to prison before the age of 17 are serving life without parole, and where we seem to have no problem paying $68,000 a year to lock up a juvenile but have a big problem paying $6,800 to keep that child in school.

Restorative justice (RJ) exists to provide a safe, respectful circle dialog where offenders come face to face with those they’ve harmed in order to take responsibility for their behaviors and repair the harm to the greatest extent possible.  Victims get to be heard, and together they come up with meaningful, relevant consequences for the offender, and they sign an agreement that is closely monitored by a facilitator to its conclusion.  It works because it gives a school student a chance to return to the learning community with honor having done the right thing.  It’s reducing discipline by as much as 60% even in high-risk, dangerous schools.  Sadly, there are still many schools that have never heard of restorative justice which puts forth the challenge to all of us to alert our schools and educators to the worldwide grassroots movement of restorative justice now reaching critical mass.[pullquote] Her book could just as easily have been titled How to Put Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars Back into School Budgets.[/pullquote]  This practical, no-nonsense guide gets right to the heart of how to keep school students  in the classroom and stop the school-to-prison pipeline.

[amazon_enhanced asin="0982270615" /] Taking Restorative Justice to Schools: A Doorway to Discipline is the first practical, comprehensive “how to” guide for schools that want to launch a restorative justice component to their current discipline systems—a great teacher gift and now available online for $19.95 at amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com.

Ending ‘Zero Tolerance’ excesses in Colorado schools – Jeannette Holtham urges restorative justice practices

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Editor’s Note:  As someone who came recently to the Restorative Justice (RJ) community, I have been impressed by the generosity of RJ practitioners, wherever they apply restorative principles.  Today’s guest blogger, Jeannette Holtham, is an example of that generosity.  Jeannette has been active in helping to implement restorative practices in Colorado schools, testifying last week in support of that state’s SB 12-046.  As readers of this blog may know, restorative justice activists in Colorado have chalked up several successes in their efforts to implement restorative justice practices in a variety of appropriate settings in the state.  Here is her summary of recent legislative efforts:

Replacing ‘Zero Tolerance’ in Schools with Restorative Practices

Colorado advocate of Restorative Justice practices in schools, Jeannette Holtham

Guest blogger Jeannette Holtham testified in support of SB 12-046 for restorative justice practices in Colorado


Zero tolerance policies for schools are on the ropes in Colorado.  Senate Bill 12-046 hopes to give the final knockout punch in the current legislative session.  The bill has been in the ring for more than two years now with proponents of restorative justice attending school task force meetings to help fine-tune this milestone bill.  Law enforcement lobbyists have had a major presence along with schools, school advocacy groups, and non-profit leaders across the state.

As Youth Transformation Center founding president and author of Taking Restorative Justice to Schools: A Doorway to Discipline”, I testified to the Senate Education Committee this past week in order to clarify a number of misconceptions about restorative justice.

  1. Restorative justice is voluntary.  No one is forced into an RJ circle dialog unless the offender is willing to face his/her victim in a sincere effort to repair harm and unless a victim feels safe enough to participate.
  2. Restorative justice isn’t appropriate for every situation; for example, incidents and behaviors that require a therapeutic response (domestic violence, sexual assault, 3rd level chronic bullying) or a law enforcement response (weapons and drug use/sale that threaten the safety of the school).
  3. Restorative justice works especially well to reduce interpersonal conflicts in schools (gossip, name calling, 1st level bullying, picking on weaker students), minor physical altercations (pushing, shoving, kicking), and classroom disruption.
  4. Restorative justice reduces teacher burnout by giving our educators vital tools to help our communities raise responsible, socially astute young adults.
  5. Too many of our children have been “thrown away” through the overuse of suspension, expulsion and police ticketing for minor to moderate offenses that are better handled in schools.  Restorative justice keeps kids in school.

    RJ in schools, Jeannette Holtham Youth Transformation Center

    Colorado's Youth Transformation Center poster for Restorative Justice in schools.

Considering the fact that zero tolerance policies have led to an overuse of suspension and expulsion which have led to high dropout rates and the school to prison pipeline, and considering that in Colorado schools lose $6,800 for each student that drops out of school (and we pay $68,000 for every child that we warehouse in a prison), this milestone legislation is a no brainer.

[amazon_enhanced asin="0982270615" /]

After posting Jeannette Holtham’s guest blog, a reader sent me a youtube video documenting last Fall’s nationwide push back against “Push Out” policies of school zero tolerance practices.  Jeannette did not recommend this link, but it seems to reinforce the message in her blog post. I welcome your comments.

The Healing Power of Storytelling in Sudan: Another Gem from Odyssey Networks

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Milcah Lalam is a peace building development specialist who serves in war-torn countries, focusing on the devastating trauma of war. She specializes in helping victims of rape and abuse, women, children and the many people who are displaced by endless war in their homelands.

In her work with RECONCILE International (Resource Centre for Civil Leadership), she helps survivors of a wide range of war-related trauma work toward healing through the process of storytelling, whether through words, drama or visual arts. Listen as she describes an example of reconciliation and the reunification of a family, even after the attempted murder of a husband by his enraged wife.

http://www.kaltura.com/index.php/kwidget/wid/0_nkrnen0f/uiconf_id/48501

Click here to subscribe to Odyssey Networks, a multi-faith media coalition.

A Restorative Justice Success Story from the U.K.

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Another day, another restoration.

Saturday’s issue of The Guardian features an interview (<— it’s important that you click here) with a crime victim and the chemically-dependent man who burglarized her home. As the reporter points out, this interview occurred after both parties had participated in Restorative Justice processes. Although victim-offender conferences are a central part of the process, the peacemaking circle at the heart of the process is much more comprehensive and intensive, involving family members, representatives of the local community and the justice system.

The fact that this Guardian interview could take place at all is testament to the successful outcomes available through restorative processes.

Picture of UK success in Restorative Justice

Reggie and Kathleen (who didn’t want to give her surname). Photograph: David Sillitoe for the Guardian

In the U.K., the Ministry of Justice is in the midst of major reforms. One of those reforms will be an increased reliance on restorative principles. A Green Paper focusing on addiction quotes a former inmate describing his experience with the process:

“I was in prison waiting to be sentenced. I was asked to meet some people face-to-face who I had burgled to get money for drugs. I only did it to get out of the cell for an hour, I thought it would be easy. But it was different. When you hear about the damage you have done, when you feel the harm you have caused, you have to be a very, very bitter and twisted person for this not to affect you. I have had easier days at the Old Bailey.”

Peter Woolf, rehabilitated repeat offender in testimony to the Centre for Social Justice

“Old Bailey” is the Central Criminal Court in England, named for the street in which it stands. It is a court building in central London, one of a number of buildings housing the Crown Court. The Crown Court sitting at the Central Criminal Court deals with major criminal cases from Greater London and, in exceptional cases, from other parts of England and Wales.

In a terse summation of the case for reform, the authors of the Green Paper conclude:

“Restorative Justice is over-researched and under-utilised. It is proven to be highly effective in increasing victim satisfaction levels and reducing . . . re-offending. To begin to put rehabilitation at the heart of the prison system we will introduce Restorative Justice Conferences to enhance justice for victims and begin the process of life change for prisoners.”