RESTORATIVE JUSTICEONLINE
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Updates on restorative developments worldwide
October 2010
Following are some of the most interesting, commented on or frequently read items from RJOB – Restorative Justice Online Blog – during September.
News
Restorative Justicefrom Susan Lee Giles' article on My Roseville::....When he joined the congregation for a Sunday service they saw a quiet, shy young man barely past boyhood. As they listened to him they finally understood what had happened and at last knew that the church had not been the target of a hate crime. A nagging fear vanished. Now it was clear that the fire was an accident and the boys had emptied every fire extinguisher trying to put it out and left not knowing that an ember would ignite and burn down the building.The young man listened quietly as each person told him what the fire had meant to them personally. When every person had finished he told them that until that moment he had only thought of it as an empty building but now he saw faces of people, a community, whose lives had been impacted by the fire. He said he was truly sorry and ashamed and offered to come back and work for the church.http://www.restorativejustice.org/RJOB/restorative-justice-1 News about abusive texts stuns parents of dead girlfrom Michael Dickison's article in the New Zealand Herald:The parents of a 15-year-old girl walked out of court yesterday when they learned that their daughter's lover stood by and watched his wife send abusive texts to her.The girl killed herself days later.In the Rotorua District Court, Pelesasa Tiumalu, 28, was jailed for four years and three months for having sex with an underage girl.http://www.restorativejustice.org/RJOB/news-about-abusive-texts-stuns-parents-of-dead-girl “Beyond all belief”: Restorative practices at St Edmund’s Primary School, Norfolk, UKfrom the article by Lisa Cook posted on iirp.com:This is what restorative practices looks like at St Edmund’s [for children 3 to 11 years old]:When the children come in each morning they are quick to sort themselves into a circle. They are keen to get started. The class teacher starts off with a greeting. This is passed around the circle and varies depending on the age of the children.http://www.restorativejustice.org/RJOB/201cbeyond-all-belief201d-2014-restorative-practices-at-st-edmund2019s-primary-school-norfolk-uk
Opinion
Restorative justice is not just saying ‘Sorry’Martin Wright’s letter to the editor that didn’t get published:Mark Johnson’s critique gives a chance to correct some common misconceptions about restorative justice (‘Apologising to victims will not reduce reoffending rates’, SocietyGuardian, 18 August). It is not about dragging offenders to see their victims, telling them to say “sorry”, nor making them do menial tasks wearing conspicuous clothing. It does not humiliate offenders (provided it is done properly, of course); they are enabled to show that they can do something useful and be valued for it. It lets victims explain, and offenders understand, the damaging effects of their actions (and in some cases, such as fights, both have been at fault in some ways). Both are asked questions like ‘What happened?’ ‘Who was affected?’ ‘What do you think and feel about it?’ and ‘What needs to be done to make things better?’ Victims often ask for an apology and/or reparation, but what most of them want is answers to questions and action to make a repeat less likely. This could mean that the offender makes reparation by co-operating with whatever support he or she needs, programmes such as anger management, drug treatment or vocational skills.http://www.restorativejustice.org/RJOB/restorative-justice-is-not-just-saying-sorry Not just an apologyby Lynette ParkerRecently, I read the headline Apologising to victims will not reduce reoffending rates in a Google news alert. I quickly scanned the article. The author was very critical of restorative justice, questioning the possibility that restorative processes could help lower reoffending rates. In describing the criminal justice system, Mark Johnson says, “The job of the criminal justice system is not to be victim-centric but to be detached, clinical and fair.” He goes on to say, “…how can empowering victims cut reoffending? Only working with offenders can do that.”As I finished reading his arguments, I had to agree with part of what Johnson said. But, I also realised that some of the criticism has a lot to do with a misunderstanding of restorative justice. An update on Greg Wilhoitby Lisa Rea:This is an update on Greg Wilhoit. As I said to Greg's sister, Nancy, I am thrilled to hear of his remarkable recovery since six months ago most of us thought he was going to leave us. But God had other plans. Greg is doing so well in that he is walking (with the help of a walker) when it looked like he would never walk again. We are very thankful. He also has some big news: he was getting married this month in Oklahoma to Judy, a woman he's known for 25 years! Greg will be honored in Texas in October 2010 during an event hosted by the Journey of Hope: From Violence to Healing when the organization barnstorms the state with its message of hope and healing as it embraces restorative justice and stands against the death penalty.http://restorativejustice.org/RJOB/updatewilhoit APAC: Brazil’s restorative justice prisons from Lorenn Walker's entry on Restorative Justice & Other Public Health Approaches for Healing:APAC’s approach is opposite to most prisons. Instead of making the people incarcerated in them feel bad, guilty, and like failures, APAC works to make people feel worthy, respected, and able to restore their lives. APAC gives people hope that they can contribute something to help others and that they can be of service in some way, no matter what their situation.APAC’s restorative approach begins with the name it uses to refer to the people who live in these prisons. Instead of calling the people inmates or prisoners, APAC calls the recuperandos because they are “people in the process of rehabilitation.” The late Insoo Kim Berg, co-founder of solution-focused brief therapy, would have loved this name recuperandos because she recognized the importance of language and how our labels influence behavior and our experiences.http://www.restorativejustice.org/RJOB/apac-brazil2019s-restorative-justice-prisons/?searchterm=apac-brazil2019s-restorative-justice-prisons
Advocacy
Restorative justice training gives voice to kids from the entry on Catalyst Miami:Power U wants school discipline to be less arbitrary and more proactive. Judging by the comments made in a restorative justice workshop Power U led at HSC the other day, a lot of kids and teens agree that "zero tolerance" policies in schools are creating hostile learning environments.Sitting in a circle, the youth shared stories about unfair punishments they had witnessed and kids missing school or important tests while suspended. Meanwhile, the underlying problems are frequently not addressed by counseling and intervention.http://www.restorativejustice.org/RJOB/restorative-justice-training-gives-voice-to-kids/?searchterm=/restorative-justice-training-gives-voice-to-kids
Practice
Where do we draw the line? by Lynette Parker:Sometimes interesting things happen when I’m pre-conferencing juvenile offenders with their parents. Often, it’s the juvenile and his/her mother there for the meeting. Generally, we start with the parent being defensive, protective of his/her child. Yet, as we discuss the incident that brought their family to restorative justice, other things tend to come up such as conflict between the parent and juvenile. Sometimes these are related directly to the offense sometimes they are not. I always feel that I’m walking a fine line as facilitator when this happens. http://www.restorativejustice.org/RJOB/drawtheline Strategic use of questions, when facilitating talking circlesFrom Kris Miner’s entry on Restorative Justice and Circles:When you are keeping a Circle, asking a questions is really important. Setting the tone, role modeling, guiding the process vs facilitating is important. Asking questions that you pass the talking piece around is a develop-worthy skill. I’ve learned by asking double questions, run on questions and questions that didn’t make much sense.http://www.restorativejustice.org/RJOB/strategic-use-of-questions-when-facilitating-talking-circles
Review
Towards a Restorative Society: A problem-solving response to harm, by Martin Wrightreviewed by Dobrinka Chankova, South-West University, BulgariaThis is not the first pamphlet or book in which Dr Martin Wright - a convinced victims’ advocate and one of the doyens of restorative justice in Europe – critiques contemporary sentencing policies and penitentiary systems. He has extensively published on endemic abuses of closed institutions and the need for immediate reform of the failing criminal justice systems, proposing a new crime policy, based on restorative justice. Lately he has advocated for applying restorative practices in new domains - schools, neighborhood, community, workplaces, etc. and is leading us to a genuine restorative society.In his latest pamphlet Dr Wright reconsiders the confused logic on which present policies are based; measures that could make a difference and how a restorative approach could transform people’s and society lives. With his inherent objectivity and scientific precision he pays due attention to the objections to and tensions in restorative justice and how its principles could be put into practice throughout society.http://www.restorativejustice.org/RJOB/towards-a-restorative-society-a-problem-solving-response-to-harm Parallel Justice for Victims of Crime, by Susan Hermanreviewed by Eric AssurNot too many years ago Restorative Justice (RJ) was introduced, or artfully expounded on, by Howard Zehr. Now we have what appears to be a similarly unique view of the victim of crime topic through new and different lenses. The author, a seasoned and well credentialed victim advocate, and the National Center for Victims of Crime now offer an enlightening commentary and daunting challenge regarding the state of victim services. The book recommends a new way to do business, a paradigm shift to what is now labeled, Parallel Justice (PJ).http://www.restorativejustice.org/RJOB/parallel-justice-for-victims-of-crime
Research
Police-referred restorative justice for juveniles in AustraliaFrom the forward to the article by Kelly Richards in Trends and Issues:This preliminary paper provides an overview of the legislative and policy context of restorative justice measures for juveniles in each Australian state and territory, highlighting the diverse characteristics of current restorative practices. Further, it provides an indication of the numbers and characteristics of juveniles who are referred by police to restorative justice measures and the offence types for which they are most commonly referred.http://restorativejustice.org/RJOB/police-referred-restorative-justice-for-juveniles-in-australia Restorative justice’s impact on participants’ psychological and physical health from the study by Tanya Rugge & Terri-Lynne Scott:Research on restorative justice has cited many positive benefits for participants. For example, restorative justice processes are satisfying to both victims and offenders. However, despite references made to positive impacts on participants’ well-being, few studies specifically examine the impact of restorative justice processes on participants’ psychological health and physical health using specific health indicators.This study utilized a quasi-experimental, repeated-measures design to assess changes in psychological and physical health in 92 participants (50 victims and 42 offenders) who experienced a restorative justice process.http://www.restorativejustice.org/RJOB/restorative-justice2019s-impact-on-participants2019-psychological-and-physical-health/?searchterm=restorative-justice2019s-impact-on-participants2019-psychological-and-physical-health
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