Neighbourhood Disputes

Restorative processes provide an opportunity for neighbours to develop their own solutions to their conflicts while building more understanding and stronger relationships.

Dispute Resolution Foundation gets $34 million injection from EU: from the Jamaica Information Service: The work of the Dispute Resolution Foundation (DRF) has been bolstered by a J$34 million injection from the European Union for a project dubbed 'We Want Justice'. The project, which aims to advance democratic rights, through the promotion of alternative dispute resolution, was launched Thursday (March 4), at the Knutsford Court Hotel, New Kingston. It aims to carry out its mandate through mediation, arbitration and restorative justice practices.
Chicago teens encourage nonviolent actions: by David Schaper on npr.org: In Chicago, the problem of youth violence is difficult to escape or ignore. After the highly publicized beating death of a Chicago teenager in September, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Education Secretary Arne Duncan visited the city and called for a national conversation on youth violence. More than a month later, Chicagoans are talking. Some teens are spending long hours strategizing about how to stop violence, but still others voice frustration over attacks that remain a constant in their lives.
A “proactive” restorative conference: from Matthew Kuehlhorm's blog Life Skoolz: As the meeting progressed, tempers cooled and people began to listen. Ultimately, the kids agreed to the boundaries set by security and the college administrators. Campus security also had a chance to meet the kids and now knows who they are when they do come onto campus. Campus is open to them after all.
Finding space for Fido: by Dan Van Ness This is not the story about a violent crime or even school bullying. But it concerns a problem contributing to the quality of life of people in a neighborhood, and of the dogs that some of them own. Dog owners in the Kingfield neighbourhood of Minneapolis want a place for their pets to run free. While there is no park in their district that allows this, some of them unleash their dogs anyhow.
Talking cure: Community Conferencing Center uses restorative justice techniques to deal with crime in Baltimore: They have assembled for what's called a community conference, a conflict-resolution strategy (or, in the lingo of those who practice it, a "conflict transformation" strategy) that will help each of the parties in the room discuss what happened, why it happened, and what everyone would like to see happen to resolve the problem. Once everyone comes to a mutual decision about how the problem should be resolved, everyone in the room signs an "agreement," which outlines the things participants will to do to make amends for the situation that brought them to the conference in the first place.
Bailie, John. Power, Authority and Restorative Practices: “Power” can be defined as the ability to exert influence over one’s environment and play an active role in the decisions that affect one most. Healthy communities set external boundaries while fostering inner control and social discipline. Restorative practices provide participatory processes that determine social power and promote healthy self-discipline and social discipline. Restorative practices greatly broaden the scope of restorative justice by offering a unifying model that can optimize all uses of power and authority, not just responses to crime and wrongdoing. By maximizing social engagement and participation in both proactive community building and reactive responses to wrongdoing, restorative practices provide a philosophical framework and practical mechanisms to foster individual and social health. (excerpt)
Wachtel, Joshua. Toward Peace and Justice in Brazil: Dominic Barter and Restorative Circles.: In 2004 the Brazilian Ministry of Justice received a small UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) grant to launch the country’s first official restorative justice (RJ) pilot projects. Recognizing the unique social context of urban violence in Brazil, the projects brought together school administrators, judges, court workers, prison authorities, social service agencies and local community leaders to create a broad restorative response to the most challenging breakdowns in community safety. While justly known for their creative celebration of life, Brazilians also live with glaring wealth imbalances and the normalization of violence: Murder is the principle cause of death for people under 25. (excerpt)
Welden Lynn M. . A Restorative Community Circle: A Neighborhood Takes Charge: When ongoing vandalism by local youth — graffiti, broken windows, littering — affected Buxmont Academy Trevose and the surrounding neighborhood of families and shop owners, school coordinator Ed Krajewski decided to apply a restorative approach used at the school, one of eight alternative schools operated by the Community Service Foundation and Buxmont Academy (CSF Buxmont) in Pennsylvania, USA (demonstration programs of the IIRP). (excerpt)
Galindo, Joanne. Community Mediation AmeriCorps Program: Meeting Conflict Resolution Needs in Communities.: The National Association for Community Mediation (NAFCM), in partnership with the Corporation for National and Community Service, has developed the Community Mediation AmeriCorps Program. The mission of the Community Mediation AmeriCorps Program is to build safe and peaceful communities by developing and promoting conflict resolution and mediation programs with youth, diverse volunteers, and the community. (excerpt)
McDonough, Ian. Community Mediation and Community Development in Scotland.: Community mediation in the UK began to develop in the 1980s as a response to a startling rise in the incidence of reported neighbourhood disputes. In Scotland the first community mediation service was launched in Edinburgh in 1995, and the next ten years saw a period of rapid and sustained growth which was well beyond that experienced in the rest of the UK. There are now 31 services in Scotland, covering almost the whole of the country from large cities to small islands, and assisting with the resolution of over 3000 community conflicts every year. (excerpt)
McDonough, Ian. Community Mediation and Community Development In Scotland.: Over 3000 community conflicts in Scotland are resolved through Community Mediation each year. The NGO Sacro has developed a series of manuals for developing a Community Mediation service. The final manual addresses the role of community mediation in fostering community development. In this article, Ian McDonough, mediation adviser for Sacro, provides an overview of the manual with a link to the full-text.
Boyes-Watson, Carolyn. Holding the Space: The Journey of Circles at ROCA.: In this report on the period from July 2001 through June 2002, Carolyn Boyes-Watson examines the experiences and lessons of peacemaking circles at Roca, Inc. Roca is a grassroots, multicultural human development and community building organization serving people and communities in eastern Massachusetts. Peacemaking circles are integral to all that Roca does in its work with young people, families, communities, and staff. The report consists of four parts. Part I provides a description of the learning and training activities conducted by Roca, and a thorough overview of the many uses of circles at Roca. Parts II, III, and IV provide a focused discussion of the impact of circles on three areas important to the mission and values of Roca: empowerment of young people; accountability among young people, Roca, and the wider community; and people coming together and building community through circles.
Westoby, Peter and Jensen, Paul. Restorative justice: An integrated model for resettling young Sudanese.: This article presents a particular model of youth and community work that is being developed within the Men and Relationships Program auspiced by LifeLine Toowoomba (Australia). The program has emerged out of a need identified within the work that has focused on Southern Sudanese young people from a refugee background settling within that geographical area. (excerpt)
Roche, Declan. Governing ungoverned spaces: the role of one women’s group in Cali, Colombia: In Cali, Colombia, a group of women from the District of Aguablanca is helping to bring peace and justice to one of the country’s poorest and most violent turban areas. Using skills and information disseminated through a network of weekly meetings, local women assist local residents both by providing a range of essential services – from mediation to adult education – and by referring residents to other service providers and resources in the community. This group, which is strikingly community-based, female, well-led, disciplined, and holistic, is now being touted as a model for communities elsewhere in Colombia. Communities, policy-makers and restorative justice advocates – both in Colombia and abroad – can learn much from their approach to restorative justice, and more broadly, from their network-based approach to governing ungoverned spaces. Much of the debate about the conflict in Colombia focuses on national events and neglects the efforts of local communities to nurture peace and justice in their immediate environment. The Aguablanca program demonstrates that local initiatives can make a big difference in the lives of ordinary Colombians. To replicate the success of this program in communities elsewhere, however, it will be necessary to identify local citizens who can provide the same leadership and commitment as the women of Aguablanca. Author’s abstract.
Buller, Ed. Aboriginal Community Healing Processes In Canada.: Issues of abuse within families and particularly Aboriginal families have been brought to the surface in Canada over the last decade. In response, a growing number of Aboriginal communities are developing holistic models of treatment for Aboriginal victims, offenders, families and the community as a whole. The approach taken is one that addresses the root causes of criminal activity and proactively engages offenders, victims and families to break the cycle of abuse. These initiatives work within the current criminal justice system while bringing a unique alternative to imprisonment that can lead to stronger and safer communities. Communities engaged in these healing approaches have seen benefits in terms of significantly reduced criminal activity and several other social benefits. There is not one universally recognized definition of community healing. Some have described healing as being “about collective approaches to change that enhance Aboriginal cultural identity. It is about family and community crisis intervention, integrated human services, political cooperation and public participation in processes of planned change and institution building.”i The Four Worlds Centre for Development Education concludes that healing “ may therefore be strategically described as a process of removing barriers and building the capacity of people and communities to address the determinants of health.(excerpt)
Grenfell, Dale Mary. ROCA- Restorative Justice in a Massachusetts Community: Roca is Spanish for “rock" or “foundation." Located in a highly diverse, multicultural, urban area north of Boston, Massachusetts, Roca, Inc is a values driven agency that began in 1998. Roca, Inc focuses on empowering at-risk youth and young families through programs that promote a real sense of belonging. In this article Dale Mary Grenfell describes its roots in restorative justice principles, peacemaking circles, multicultural programming, and community building. She also identifies some of Roca’s key programs – such as literacy, health, young parenting, and life skills – and she profiles the director of the organization, Molly Baldwin.

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Navigation More Rooms Work Place Family Room Community Centre Neighbourhood Disputes Addressing Needs Implementation Class Room Chapel Pew Peace Commission	Info Neighbourhood Disputes Restorative processes provide an opportunity for neighbours to develop their own solutions to their conflicts while building more understanding and stronger relationships. Dispute Resolution Foundation gets $34 million injection from EU from the Jamaica Information Service: The work of the Dispute Resolution Foundation (DRF) has been bolstered by a J$34 million injection from the European Union for a project dubbed 'We Want Justice'. The project, which aims to advance democratic rights, through the promotion of alternative dispute resolution, was launched Thursday (March 4), at the Knutsford Court Hotel, New Kingston. It aims to carry out its mandate through mediation, arbitration and restorative justice practices. Chicago teens encourage nonviolent actions by David Schaper on npr.org: In Chicago, the problem of youth violence is difficult to escape or ignore. After the highly publicized beating death of a Chicago teenager in September, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Education Secretary Arne Duncan visited the city and called for a national conversation on youth violence. More than a month later, Chicagoans are talking. Some teens are spending long hours strategizing about how to stop violence, but still others voice frustration over attacks that remain a constant in their lives. A “proactive” restorative conference from Matthew Kuehlhorm's blog Life Skoolz: As the meeting progressed, tempers cooled and people began to listen. Ultimately, the kids agreed to the boundaries set by security and the college administrators. Campus security also had a chance to meet the kids and now knows who they are when they do come onto campus. Campus is open to them after all. Finding space for Fido by Dan Van Ness This is not the story about a violent crime or even school bullying. But it concerns a problem contributing to the quality of life of people in a neighborhood, and of the dogs that some of them own. Dog owners in the Kingfield neighbourhood of Minneapolis want a place for their pets to run free. While there is no park in their district that allows this, some of them unleash their dogs anyhow. Talking cure: Community Conferencing Center uses restorative justice techniques to deal with crime in Baltimore They have assembled for what's called a community conference, a conflict-resolution strategy (or, in the lingo of those who practice it, a "conflict transformation" strategy) that will help each of the parties in the room discuss what happened, why it happened, and what everyone would like to see happen to resolve the problem. Once everyone comes to a mutual decision about how the problem should be resolved, everyone in the room signs an "agreement," which outlines the things participants will to do to make amends for the situation that brought them to the conference in the first place. Bailie, John. Power, Authority and Restorative Practices “Power” can be defined as the ability to exert influence over one’s environment and play an active role in the decisions that affect one most. Healthy communities set external boundaries while fostering inner control and social discipline. Restorative practices provide participatory processes that determine social power and promote healthy self-discipline and social discipline. Restorative practices greatly broaden the scope of restorative justice by offering a unifying model that can optimize all uses of power and authority, not just responses to crime and wrongdoing. By maximizing social engagement and participation in both proactive community building and reactive responses to wrongdoing, restorative practices provide a philosophical framework and practical mechanisms to foster individual and social health. (excerpt) Wachtel, Joshua. Toward Peace and Justice in Brazil: Dominic Barter and Restorative Circles. In 2004 the Brazilian Ministry of Justice received a small UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) grant to launch the country’s first official restorative justice (RJ) pilot projects. Recognizing the unique social context of urban violence in Brazil, the projects brought together school administrators, judges, court workers, prison authorities, social service agencies and local community leaders to create a broad restorative response to the most challenging breakdowns in community safety. While justly known for their creative celebration of life, Brazilians also live with glaring wealth imbalances and the normalization of violence: Murder is the principle cause of death for people under 25. (excerpt) Welden Lynn M. . A Restorative Community Circle: A Neighborhood Takes Charge When ongoing vandalism by local youth — graffiti, broken windows, littering — affected Buxmont Academy Trevose and the surrounding neighborhood of families and shop owners, school coordinator Ed Krajewski decided to apply a restorative approach used at the school, one of eight alternative schools operated by the Community Service Foundation and Buxmont Academy (CSF Buxmont) in Pennsylvania, USA (demonstration programs of the IIRP). (excerpt) Galindo, Joanne. Community Mediation AmeriCorps Program: Meeting Conflict Resolution Needs in Communities. The National Association for Community Mediation (NAFCM), in partnership with the Corporation for National and Community Service, has developed the Community Mediation AmeriCorps Program. The mission of the Community Mediation AmeriCorps Program is to build safe and peaceful communities by developing and promoting conflict resolution and mediation programs with youth, diverse volunteers, and the community. (excerpt) McDonough, Ian. Community Mediation and Community Development in Scotland. Community mediation in the UK began to develop in the 1980s as a response to a startling rise in the incidence of reported neighbourhood disputes. In Scotland the first community mediation service was launched in Edinburgh in 1995, and the next ten years saw a period of rapid and sustained growth which was well beyond that experienced in the rest of the UK. There are now 31 services in Scotland, covering almost the whole of the country from large cities to small islands, and assisting with the resolution of over 3000 community conflicts every year. (excerpt) McDonough, Ian. Community Mediation and Community Development In Scotland. Over 3000 community conflicts in Scotland are resolved through Community Mediation each year. The NGO Sacro has developed a series of manuals for developing a Community Mediation service. The final manual addresses the role of community mediation in fostering community development. In this article, Ian McDonough, mediation adviser for Sacro, provides an overview of the manual with a link to the full-text. Boyes-Watson, Carolyn. Holding the Space: The Journey of Circles at ROCA. In this report on the period from July 2001 through June 2002, Carolyn Boyes-Watson examines the experiences and lessons of peacemaking circles at Roca, Inc. Roca is a grassroots, multicultural human development and community building organization serving people and communities in eastern Massachusetts. Peacemaking circles are integral to all that Roca does in its work with young people, families, communities, and staff. The report consists of four parts. Part I provides a description of the learning and training activities conducted by Roca, and a thorough overview of the many uses of circles at Roca. Parts II, III, and IV provide a focused discussion of the impact of circles on three areas important to the mission and values of Roca: empowerment of young people; accountability among young people, Roca, and the wider community; and people coming together and building community through circles. Westoby, Peter and Jensen, Paul. Restorative justice: An integrated model for resettling young Sudanese. This article presents a particular model of youth and community work that is being developed within the Men and Relationships Program auspiced by LifeLine Toowoomba (Australia). The program has emerged out of a need identified within the work that has focused on Southern Sudanese young people from a refugee background settling within that geographical area. (excerpt) Roche, Declan. Governing ungoverned spaces: the role of one women’s group in Cali, Colombia In Cali, Colombia, a group of women from the District of Aguablanca is helping to bring peace and justice to one of the country’s poorest and most violent turban areas. Using skills and information disseminated through a network of weekly meetings, local women assist local residents both by providing a range of essential services – from mediation to adult education – and by referring residents to other service providers and resources in the community. This group, which is strikingly community-based, female, well-led, disciplined, and holistic, is now being touted as a model for communities elsewhere in Colombia. Communities, policy-makers and restorative justice advocates – both in Colombia and abroad – can learn much from their approach to restorative justice, and more broadly, from their network-based approach to governing ungoverned spaces. Much of the debate about the conflict in Colombia focuses on national events and neglects the efforts of local communities to nurture peace and justice in their immediate environment. The Aguablanca program demonstrates that local initiatives can make a big difference in the lives of ordinary Colombians. To replicate the success of this program in communities elsewhere, however, it will be necessary to identify local citizens who can provide the same leadership and commitment as the women of Aguablanca. Author’s abstract. Buller, Ed. Aboriginal Community Healing Processes In Canada. Issues of abuse within families and particularly Aboriginal families have been brought to the surface in Canada over the last decade. In response, a growing number of Aboriginal communities are developing holistic models of treatment for Aboriginal victims, offenders, families and the community as a whole. The approach taken is one that addresses the root causes of criminal activity and proactively engages offenders, victims and families to break the cycle of abuse. These initiatives work within the current criminal justice system while bringing a unique alternative to imprisonment that can lead to stronger and safer communities. Communities engaged in these healing approaches have seen benefits in terms of significantly reduced criminal activity and several other social benefits. There is not one universally recognized definition of community healing. Some have described healing as being “about collective approaches to change that enhance Aboriginal cultural identity. It is about family and community crisis intervention, integrated human services, political cooperation and public participation in processes of planned change and institution building.”i The Four Worlds Centre for Development Education concludes that healing “ may therefore be strategically described as a process of removing barriers and building the capacity of people and communities to address the determinants of health.(excerpt) Grenfell, Dale Mary. ROCA- Restorative Justice in a Massachusetts Community Roca is Spanish for “rock" or “foundation." Located in a highly diverse, multicultural, urban area north of Boston, Massachusetts, Roca, Inc is a values driven agency that began in 1998. Roca, Inc focuses on empowering at-risk youth and young families through programs that promote a real sense of belonging. In this article Dale Mary Grenfell describes its roots in restorative justice principles, peacemaking circles, multicultural programming, and community building. She also identifies some of Roca’s key programs – such as literacy, health, young parenting, and life skills – and she profiles the director of the organization, Molly Baldwin. Document Actions RSS feed Send this Print this	Africa Asia Europe Latin America Middle East North America and Caribbean Pacific Search 9822 publications on restorative justice Recent RJOB Comments My brother Greg Wilhoit Mar 09, 2010 Greg Wilhoit Mar 09, 2010 Death penalty Mar 09, 2010 More… Slide Show: What is Restorative Justice Click to view a slideshow discussing the definition of restorative justice. Feb 25, 2010 Build on the Sycamore Tree Project® Feb 13, 2010 PF Chile’s APAC programme: 10 years of transforming lives and prison units Jan 13, 2010 Choice Fruit. Nov 30, 2009 Solomon Islands: Community Healing and Reconciliation Nov 30, 2009 Sad News from STP in Western Australia