Restorative justice

from the entry on Ben's Prison Blog:

The Big Problem with the criminal justice system is that it is firmly wedded to the idea of causing mutual harm - you hurt me, so I hurt you back. That so few people recognise that this merely increases the sum of human suffering and social harm is an indictment on the popular imagination. Or a testament to the resilience of our atavistic urges to lash out at those who hurt us.

Aug 19, 2010 Support

• Read More

What does tranformative/restorative justice actually look like?

from the entry on the blog Prison Culture:

Whenever I talk about my work with others, I make sure to stress that it focuses on developing community-based alternatives to the traditional criminal legal system.   I add that we do this using a transformative justice approach and lens. Many have responded to me by saying: “that’s not something that I can wrap my mind around.”  This is usually followed by the questions: “What does transformative justice look like?” and  “How would it work?”   Actually I should back up to say that the first question is usually: “What about the violent and bad people?  Surely you are not advocating letting them out of prison!”

I understand the fear that people have of the so-called “unknown.”  People would rather rely on a criminal legal system that they KNOW is ineffective and unjust than to move to an approach that they view as “unproven” and perhaps even Utopian.  It provides them with a sense of safety, however fragile. Hence, the constant and persistent question: “What about the bad people?”

Aug 18, 2010 Support

• Read More

Restorative justice an expansive concept

From the article by Bryan McKenzie in The Daily Progress: 

It’s a quaint notion: If we listen to each other and work hard at getting along, we can be one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all — including victims of crime and the criminals who victimize them.

It may be quaint, but the notion drives a group of community activists who plan to hit town to train our citizenry in gathering stories on the state prison and parole system. They hope the stories, to be recorded on small, hand-held video cameras that they will distribute, can build support for restorative justice.

Aug 09, 2010 Support, Region: North America and Caribbean, Country:USA

• Read More

Why restorative justice fans trumpet Northern Ireland

from the entry by Bluecorps on Criminologist:

The possible introduction of restorative justice in mainland Britain promises to spark a furious debate but in Northern Ireland they wonder what the fuss is all about.

It has been a mainstream feature of the youth justice there for seven years. Three quarters of victims choose to meet the young offender face to face and victim satisfaction rates stand at 90 per cent, according to the Northern Ireland Justice Ministry.

Aug 06, 2010 Policy, Support, Country:Northern Ireland

• Read More