Power of One: Restorative justice couples victims with offenders

from the article on CTV.ca:

....A woman named Marité has been taking part in the process, not by facing her sexually-abusive father, but rather, another man who committed similar acts.

She said that results have helped her cope with the damage she suffered.

"For him it was like I was his daughter," said Marité. "And I was able also to express my anger to him and that's what he wanted rather than silence from his daughter."

"I can now go forward because I'm not bound to my father anymore. I can leave him go."

Jun 26, 2012 Story, Case:Burglary, Victim, Mediation, Policy, Other, Region: North America and Caribbean, Case:Sexual, Country:Canada

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Restorative justice: Using psychology to change the way offenders think

from the article on the website of the British Psychological Society:

A five-day programme for convicted offenders has been shown to be effective in increasing their levels of concern for their victims and motivation to change. The Supporting Offenders through Restoration Inside (SORI) programme, which has been piloted in seven prisons across the UK, is the subject of a study published in the journal Criminological and Legal Psychology today.

Jun 13, 2012 Region:Europe, Country:England&Wales, Other, Victim, Prison

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Does restorative justice mean forgiveness?

by Lisa Rea

This is a pretty controversial topic: forgiveness and restorative justice. Do all crime victims who support restorative justice therefore forgive? Does one come then the other? I don’t think so. I know many victims of violent crime who have forgiven. Many of their stories are online at Restorative Justice International (RJI) (see victims stories) and I have told others on this blog. 

What is problematic to me is when advocates, experts, volunteers in the restorative justice field (or prison reform field) “expect” victims to forgive or worse they “urge” victims to forgive.  To me, it is a journey that only the victim can make.  Forgiveness can flow out of participating in a victim offender dialogue (i.e. a restorative justice meeting) but we cannot assume it will.  It is rather presumptious for anyone to expect of victim of violent crime to forgive the offender. It’s wonderful when it happens but it is not a necessary outcome of restorative justice.

Jun 11, 2012 Forgiveness, Victim, Correspondent:Lisa Rea

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New Staffordshire crime-fighting partnership praised by Justice Secretary

from the article by Sonya Britton iin This Is Staffordshire

On a visit to Staffordshire's new integrated crime-fighting hub, Justice Secretary Lord McNally met former offenders, victims of crime, and staff from police, probation and drug treatment agencies.

And Lord McNally was impressed at the joint working shown by the 180° Integrated Offender Management partnership, which aims to help tackle the most challenging and prolific offenders in Staffordshire in an integrated way.

Jun 08, 2012 Practice, Country:England&Wales, Victim, Mediation, Other, Region: Europe, Probation, Meeting

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