Supporters of the initiative, which can see young people meet victims of their crime and make amends, argue it can drastically reduce re-offending rates through making offenders come to terms with the consequences of their actions.
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temporary chief constable of Merseyside Police, Bernard Lawson, said
the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) is divided on the
principle.
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- Showing 9 posts filed under: Policy [–] published between Nov 01, 2009 and Nov 30, 2009 [Show all]
One-third of police chiefs 'oppose restorative justice'
by Neil Puffett on Children and Young People Now:
One-third of chief constables in England and Wales are opposed to the use of restorative justice, it has been claimed.
Nov 26, 2009 Conceptual, Policy, Police
"I'm a dominating bully"
from Alan J. Borsuk's entry on the Marquette University Law School faculty blog:
Three students from Milwaukee’s Custer High School, two girls and a boy, didn’t offer research evidence or a PowerPoint presentation. They just described incidents they have been involved in as bullies and as victims, gave their thoughts on why students act the way they do — and held the rapt attention of the audience.
All three are part of the Violence Free Zone project at Custer, run by Running Rebels, a local organization that aims to direct teens away from violent behavior.
Community justice: Not to you or for you, but with you
by Christa Pierpont. This is a selection of an article from a special online complement to the Summer 2008 issue of ACResolution, Vol 7, Issue 4. The Association for Conflict Resolution has given permission for it to be used on RJOnline. The complete article is attached.
....The “magic” of restorative practices comes from a principled belief that when there is a breach in relationships, people can re-story their lives (often in gifted ways), given an active and supported responsibility to do so. It is clear from the research report, Restorative Justice: The Evidence, (Lawrence W. Sherman and Heather Strang, Smith Institute, 2007) that individuals can transcend large and small wrongs in a highly satisfactory way with improved long-term consequences when restorative practices are used. Our next question was: Could this opportunity be expanded from individuals to a wider sense of cultural harms?
In particular, could restorative processes begin to address underlying racial anger and fears in our region without exacerbating negative economic realities? These questions grew out of dynamics we were discovering as we explored the history of public school education in Virginia. When the RCF studied school disciplinary statistics for public schools, we found a significantly higher rate of disciplinary action for low-income and minority youth. Efforts are now being made to reduce out-of-classroom placements and to transition to more restorative disciplinary practices, but it will take decades and funding to re-build skills for individuals who have given up on the public school system.
Nov 19, 2009 Minority, Apology, Offender, Guidelines, Community, Policy, Case:Poverty
How does healing happen?
from Mark, Andy and Frank's entry on Triptykos:
Colleague Frank Rogers will then give a presentation on “Restorative Justice.” In this presentation Frank will talk about the “Victim’s Journey” and the nature of forgiveness. One of the things that is so helpful in this presenation is something called ”The Misconceptions of Forgiveness.” Here’s the ten common misconceptions:
Nov 18, 2009 Policy, Forgiveness
Restorative justice: From principles to practice
from Michael Simmonds' entry on Island Pacific School's blog:
Restorative justice is not only a practice it’s a philosophy. A school is working within a restorative justice framework when the primary focus is on relationship building: student-to-student; adult-to-student; and adult-to-adult. A whole school model of restorative justice promotes a continuum of practices that are used like tools for different situations. Although restorative justice practices take different forms like, for example, mini-conferences, peer mediation, and talking circles they are similar insomuch as they use restorative communication as the norm. These include: (1) speaking calmly, (2) speaking respectfully, (3) using simple, straightforward language, (4) being sensitive to cultural differences, and (5) using the language of restoration with everyone.
Stop bullying now
from Dean Henk's entry on the Marquette Educator:
Attending the Law School’s conference on bullying yesterday took me back vividly to the one and only time I was bullied. It only lasted about 24 hours, but it made such an impact on me that I’ll remember it always.
When I was in sixth grade, our class bully threatened to kill me because I beat him out for the basketball team. I was traumatized, because he had flunked two times and was physically superior to everyone in my class.
Implementing restorative justice: A guide for schools
Recently, the Illinois Criminal Justice Authority released the guide Implementing Restorative Justice: A guide for Schools as part of a series of resources created to help with the statewide implementation of restorative justice for working with young offenders. Developed with assistance from juvenile justice practitioners and school personnel, it provides guidance for implementing policy and practice in both elementary and secondary schools. The goals of the guide include:
- Introduce to school personnel the concepts of restorative justice and restorative discipline.
- Offer new tools that can reduce the need for school exclusion and juvenile justice system involvement in school misconduct.
- Offer ways to enhance the school environment to prevent conflict and restore relationships after conflict arises.
Nov 12, 2009 School, Practice, Guidelines, Manual, Guideline, Region: North America and Caribbean, Policy, Standards, Teacher, Country:USA
Why is it important for people of faith to be involved in domestic violence work?
from the Renewal House blog entry:
A reporter from the Boston Herald asked me that question yesterday afternoon. The reporter is working on an article highlighting the Restorer’s Ministry, a new hotline led by three women from the Grace of All Nations Church in Dorchester. We have been supporting the training needs of the three as they seek to live out their call to serving individuals and families struggling with issues of domestic violence in their community.
Nov 10, 2009 Policy, Religion, Case:Domestic Violence, Community
Restorative justice could actually restore justice
from Alasdair Palmer's opinion article on Telegraph.co.uk:
What is to be done about Britain's stubbornly high crime rate? Sentencing more offenders to longer terms in prison is one answer – but that is a counsel of despair. Overcrowding has now reached the point where prison governors have given up on rehabilitation: even modest attempts at persuading criminals out of a life of crime have been abandoned.
Prison certainly has the very significant advantage of keeping criminals off the streets, which alternatives such as community sentences do not share. But prisoners have to be released, most after less than two years, and when they are freed, around half end up being reconvicted and returned to jail.
