November 2007 Edition

Stories include: Diverting Young Adults from Prison in NSW; Creating Alternatives for Young Offenders in Toronto; Book Review: Restorative justice: how it works; Video Review: Heartspeak Productions on You Tube; Meet Di Xiaohua; Website of the Month: Justicia Restaurativa: Un camino para la transformación.

Diverting Young Adults from Prison in NSW

The New South Wales (NSW) Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research recently released an evaluation report of a pilot community conferencing programme targeting young adults. The programme seeks to divert persons between the ages of 18 and 24 from prison to community conferences. The report discusses results from a survey of conference participants as well as interviews and focus group meetings with key stakeholders in Liverpool and Tweed Heads – the two local courts participating in the pilot programme.

Creating Alternatives for Young Offenders in Toronto

An innovative diversion programme offers young offenders in the Greater Toronto area an opportunity to clear their records and contribute to the community. Called PACT (for participation, acknowledgement, commitment, and transformation), it partners with youth courts to provide a restorative justice and community service alternative in sentencing young offenders.

Book Review: Restorative justice: how it works.

In Restorative Justice: How it Works, Marian Liebmann describes the wide range of uses of restorative justice theory and practice. Martin Wright reviews the book.

Video Review: Heartspeak Productions on You Tube

Heartspeak Productions creates multimedia presentations promoting restorative justice values and practices. Its documentary A Healing River has received good reviews. Heartspeak Productions has recently begun posting clips from that documentary and other sources on You Tube.

Meet Di Xiaohua

Di Xiaohua advocates for study and practical implementation of restorative justice principles China.

Website of the Month: Justicia Restaurativa: Un camino para la transformación

Since 2004 an interdisciplinary research team from the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana in Bogotá Colombia has worked to understand restorative justice and develop processes for implementing the concept in Colombia. This Spanish language website outlines the work of the research team and provides a lot of information on the development of restorative justice in Colombia.