Calling a circle....
from John Gehm's entry on Restore:
What does it mean when we say, “We’re calling a circle?” In the context of restorative practices I take it to mean that we are clearing a space where community can enter. It may or it may not choose to do so. But sitting in circle is the best we’ve got to silence the din and distraction of daily life and risk finding out that beneath whatever differences we may have on the surface we are connected deeply by what we have in common.
Authentic community is rare and it is safe. It is the opposite of that place we mostly inhabit filled with masks, anxiety, invisibility, power and imbalance. Circles done well open a place for empathy, respect, empowerment, and direct communication for authentic ‘human being.’ Restorative circles are used for sentencing, for reconciliation, for healing, for celebration, for talking and for educating.
filed under: Circle, Practice, Country:USA
Offenders and their children
I was saddened to see that a provision requiring judges to consider the impact on an offender’s children before ordering a custodial sentence was removed from legislation being debated in Scotland. The provisions were removed from the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Bill to allow more time to debate other contentious issues. While I don’t live in Scotland, I was disappointed by this move because the incarceration of a parent can negatively impact children in several ways:
- Financial instability and hardship (possibly increased)
- Instability in family relationships and structure
- School behaviour and performance problems
- Shame, social and institutional stigma
So, I wondered how a justice system informed by restorative values would respond to the needs of offenders’ children. Here are a few thoughts:
filed under: Correspondent:Lynette Parker
Death row lets victims' families down
from Jessica Reed's article in guardian.co.uk:
Most debates about the criminal justice system and restorative justice are criticised for not focusing enough on the impact that violence has on victims and their families. Those objections multiply tenfold when the issue at hand is capital punishment: bring up the subject and many death penalty supporters will say that executions are the only way to meet survivors' needs for justice and closure, and that to oppose capital punishment is to be anti-victim. "What if it was your own son or mother?" they ask. "Wouldn't you want the perpetrator die at the hands of our justice system?"
As it turns out, the truth is rather different. During last week's fourth world congress against death penalty in Geneva, the voices of murder victims' families painted a picture seldom seen in the media. For a variety of reasons, a growing number of families do not support capital punishment. However, all families face decades of legal appeals over the execution of the perpetrator – a truly agonising wait for anyone seeking closure.
The Sanctuary Model: A restorative approach for human services organizations.
From the 3 March Restorative Practices E-Forum by Laura Mirsky:
The Sanctuary Model is a non-hierarchical, highly participatory, “trauma-informed and evidence-supported” operating system for human services organizations, which helps them function in a humane, democratic and socially responsible manner and thereby provide effective treatment for clients in a clinical setting. The model is entirely congruent with restorative practices, in that it is about working with people instead of doing things to them or for them.
Not a specific treatment intervention, the Sanctuary Model provides a structure and common language for people in human services fields to communicate and collaborate with each other. Said Dr. Sandra Bloom, developer of the model: “Social workers, psychiatrists and nurses don’t share a common way of working with clients. The Sanctuary Model gets everybody on the same trauma-informed page.”
New payback justice: Both sides of the fence
from Neal Keeling's article in Manchester Evening News:
Ruth Edmunds and Peter Woolf have been on either side of the Restorative Justice programme – and both believe it works.
Ruth decided to meet a teenage boy who was in a gang of three vandals that wrecked a Scout hut in Poynton, Cheshire, where she worked as a volunteer.
Peter's life changed for ever when he met the man he attacked and left bleeding during a burglary. Seven years on, he hasn't reoffended.
filed under: Media, Story, Country:England, Region: Europe
Kitchener seniors’ programs get federal funding
from the article in The Record.com:
The Alzheimer Society and Community Justice Initiatives were awarded federal funding for two seniors’ programs.
The Alzheimer Society of Kitchener Waterloo got more than $18,000 for their Memory Fit program, which is a community based recreational program for seniors in the early stage of dementia and their care partners for peer support and social interaction.
filed under: Practice
Restorative justice stops fights, keeps kids in schools
from Nelson Garcia's article on 9News.com:
Juan Salazar used to be one of those students who got into trouble for fighting at North High School. Now he uses words instead of fists.
"If someone bumped into me, I started saying something," Salazar, a senior, said. "It always led to a fight."
It also always led to a suspension.
filed under: Story, School, Region: North America and Caribbean, Country:USA
Knife robber meets victim
from the article in Lancaster Guardian:
A woman who was robbed at knifepoint visited her teenage attacker in prison to receive an apology from him as part of a restorative justice project.
Police offered Zoe Harrison the chance to meet Arron Burns, 18, at Lancaster Farms, to help her bring closure to her ordeal.
Restorative Justice Facilitator Trainings
The Saint Croix Valley Restorative Justice in River Falls, WI, USA, plans to provide several training events for restorative justice facilitators in April, June and July 2010.
Dispute Resolution Foundation gets $34 million injection from EU
from the Jamaica Information Service:
The work of the Dispute Resolution Foundation (DRF) has been bolstered by a J$34 million injection from the European Union for a project dubbed 'We Want Justice'.
The project, which aims to advance democratic rights, through the promotion of alternative dispute resolution, was launched Thursday (March 4), at the Knutsford Court Hotel, New Kingston. It aims to carry out its mandate through mediation, arbitration and restorative justice practices.
