Facilitating Restorative Meetings

Articles and resources on the use of probation officers to facilitate restorative encounters.

East Lancs probation officer shortlisted for national award

from the article in the Lancashire Telegraph: A probation officer who helped the father of a peacemaker killed with a single punch meet his killer has been shortlisted for a national award. Geraldine Martin was a finalist in the national Probation Award’s Victim Services category for her work with the family of Padiham Ladies' football coach, Adam Rogers from Blackburn.

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.

London riots and restorative justice

Thank you for posting this. There seems to be an opportunity now to apply this knowledge to the aftermath of the riots in London. I [...]

Restorative approaches can make a difference in the relationship between local government bodies and the communities they serve

from the article by Carey Cake and Kirsten Cooper in British Politics and Policy and LSE: ....Since November 2007 over 9,000 people have been through the RJ process. Of those: 89% of participants were satisfied with the outcome 87% of participants feel RJ is effective in dealing with crime and ASB 93% of participants would recommend RJ 93% of participants are satisfied with their treatment 83% of participants are confident in the police and partners ability to deal with crime and ASB having been exposed to RJ

Kelley, Lance F.. The Challenges of Restorative Justice for a Juvenile Probation Officer.

I have been a Juvenile Probation Officer in Loudoun County, Virginia for more than five years. I am a trained restorative justice conference facilitator as well as a trainer in restorative justice conferencing. Coming from the criminal justice system side of things - I run the Restorative Justice Program for our Juvenile Probation unit - tends to make the victim/offender conference facilitation more challenging for me. Fortunately, I have surrounded myself with seasoned professionals in this field and have continued to hone my skills through ongoing training. (excerpt)

Polish Restorative justice and practice in Poland and Britain: Report of a British and Polish Academies' exchange initiative

This is a three-year project funded by the British Academy and the Polish Academy of Sciences. Its purpose is to exchange information and experience about the use and effects of restorative justice and victim-offender mediation for both adult and juvenile offending. The project is set in the broader context of the various European developments that have taken place over the past decade. Articles 10 and 17 of The European Union’s Framework Decision on the Standing of Victims in Criminal Proceedings, which oblige Member States to adapt their legislation in order to promote victim-offender mediation by March 2006, is of particular relevance. The Polish criminal justice system’s responses to crime are, in the case of restorative justice interventions, less well developed than in Great Britain. From the Polish perspective, the principal objective of this research proposal is to gather information about the design and delivery of such interventions for the purpose of informing their own initiatives. This work was undertaken by Dr. David Miers and his team in conjunction with colleagues in Poland.