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Crawford, Donna and Bodine, Richard. Conflict Resolution Education: A Guide to Implementing Programs in Schools, Youth-Serving Organizations, and Community and Juvenile Justice Settings; Program Report

The first chapter defines conflict as a natural condition and examines the origins of conflict, responses to conflict, and the outcomes of those responses. It presents the essential principles, foundation abilities, and problemsolving processes of conflict resolution; discusses the elements of a successful conflict resolution program; and introduces four approaches to implementing conflict resolution education. Each of the next four chapters discusses one of these four approaches and presents examples of programs that use the approach. One chapter describes an approach to conflict resolution education characterized by devoting a specific time to teaching the foundation abilities, principles, and one or more of the problemsolving processes of conflict resolution in a separate course or distinct curriculum. Another chapter describes an approach in which selected, trained individuals provide neutral third-party facilitation in conflict resolution. A chapter presents an approach that incorporates conflict resolution education into the core subject areas of the curriculum and into classroom management strategies, and another chapter presents a comprehensive whole-school methodology that builds on the previous approach. The next two chapters address conflict resolution education in settings other than traditional schools, including juvenile justice and community settings. The final three chapters address more overarching topics: conflict resolution research and evaluation; a developmental sequence of behavioral expectations in conflict resolution; and the process of developing, implementing, and sustaining a conflict resolution program. Abstract courtesy of National Criminal Justice Reference Service, www.ncjrs.org.

Bazemore, Gordon and Day, Susan E. Restoring the Balance: Juvenile and Community Justice

From the perspective of restorative justice, the most significant aspect of crime is that it victimizes citizens and communities. The justice system should focus on repairing this harm by ensuring that offenders are held accountable for making amends for the damage and suffering they have caused. A restorative system would help to ensure that offenders make amends to their victims. Juvenile justice cannot do this alone, however. Restorative justice requires that not only government, but also victims, offenders, and communities be involved in the justice process. The most distinctive feature of restorative justice is its elevation of the role of victims in implementing justice policies. In an effort to achieve a balanced approach to juvenile justice, restorative justice articulates three goals: accountability, public safety, and competency development. Balance is attainable when administrators ensure that equitable resources are allocated to each goal. A table provides the measures for achievement and the priorities for practice for each of these goals. Abstract courtesy of National Criminal Justice Reference Service, www.ncjrs.org.

Lemonne, Anne. Development of Restorative Justice: The Case of Penal Mediation in Belgium

This article reviews the system of penal mediation introduced into the Belgian criminal justice system in 1994. After discussing that the concept of restorative justice has its roots in criticisms against the formal justice system, begun in the 1970’s, the author describes the emergence of penal mediation in Belgium. Stating that Belgium has been the scene of a number of recent scandals affecting both the legitimacy of the Belgian police and the Belgian criminal justice system, the Belgian Ministry of Justice conducted a pilot experiment from 1992 to 1993 in order to test the feasibility of establishing penal mediation in Belgium. Fully implementing penal mediation into the Belgian criminal justice system in 1994, the Belgian government employs mediation advisors in order to evaluate the effectiveness of penal mediation. Although penal mediation in Belgium is far from causing a "paradigm shift" in the Belgian penal justice system, this report argues that the current Belgian penal justice system is based on a retributive approach, with traditional trials, imprisonment, and fines still encompassing the bulk of criminal justice system solutions to crime. The author suggests that further developing the penal mediation procedure in Belgium is a worthy endeavor for facilitating a restorative justice approach to crime in Belgium. The article is in Danish. Abstractt courtesy of National Criminal Justice Reference Service, www.ncjrs.org.

Pennell, Joan and Burford, Gale. Partnership-Building Evaluation in Newfoundland/Labrador and North Carolina.

According to the authors of this paper, family group decision making (FGDM) seeks to resolve family violence by building partnerships within and around families to deal constructively with shared concerns. Partners include family members, community organizations, and public agencies. In turn, FGDM evaluation should serve three purposes: assessment of the extent to which partnerships were formed; assessment of the effectiveness of the partnerships in resolving the concerns; and promotion of constructive partnerships. With all of this in mind, the authors describe the development of evaluation approaches for the FGDM projects in Newfoundland/Labrador (Canada) and in North Carolina (USA). They then build on these experiences to set forth strategies for achieving the three purposes of partnership-building evaluation.

LeCroy and Milligan Associates, Inc.. Family Group Decision Making. Year 2 Annual Evaluation Report.

This is the second evaluation report on the Family Group Decision Making Program in Arizona. Family group decision making is a model and strategy for dealing with youth in trouble and their families. First developed in New Zealand in 1989 as part of child welfare reform, it concentrates on family strengths and capacity for change rather than on problems and deficits. This particular Family Group Decision Making Program, oriented primarily toward child welfare purposes rather than juvenile justice per se, is a relatively new effort by the Arizona Department of Economic Security (DES). The aim of the program is to encourage and prepare families to develop and implement their own placement plans to ensure child safety. This second phase of the evaluation – covering the period from August 2001 through August 2002 – focuses on the implementation of the program throughout the state of Arizona. The evaluation report details the program’s background, the evaluation purpose and design, evaluation of the implementation of the program, evaluation of the program’s outcomes, and conclusions and recommendations. A number of appendices provide valuable materials and statistics on the program itself, and tools used in the research.

LeCroy and Milligan Associates, Inc.. Family Group Decision Making Annual Evaluation Report

Family group decision making is a model and strategy for dealing with youth in trouble and their families. First developed in New Zealand in 1989 as part of child welfare reform, it concentrates on family strengths and capacity for change rather than on problems and deficits. This particular Family Group Decision Making Program, oriented primarily toward child welfare purposes rather than juvenile justice per se, is a relatively new effort by the Arizona Department of Economic Security (DES). The aim of the program is to encourage and prepare families to develop and implement their own placement plans to ensure child safety. The first phase of the evaluation focused on the implementation of the program. The evaluation began in February 2001 and covered through August 2001. This report details the program’s background, the evaluation purpose and design, a review of the relevant literature, program implementation, future evaluation plans, and conclusions and recommendations. Materials at the end of the report provide valuable materials on the tools used in the research.

Seymour, Anne. Victims of Juvenile Offenders: An Important Component of the Juvenile Justice Equation

At the beginnings of the field of victim assistance in the early 1970s, little attention was paid to the creation and implementation of victims’ rights and the provision of quality victim services in the nation’s juvenile justice systems, claims Anne Seymour. In recent years this has begun to change with increasing attention being given to the plight of victims of juvenile offenders. Indeed, during the past decade important partnerships have emerged among juvenile justice, juvenile corrections, and victim assistance agencies and professionals. Seymour surveys all of this through a discussion of the uniqueness of victims of juvenile offenders, the needs of victims of juvenile offenders, and significant developments in the field.

Umbreit, Mark S and Coates, Robert B and Vos, Betty and Coates, Robert B. The Impact of Restorative Justice Conferencing: A Multi-National Perspective

Considerable empirical work has been done over the past twenty years or so to document the impact of programmes attempting to implement restorative justice concepts. Here, we take a look at how this ongoing experiment with restorative justice conferencing is doing. WE will consider client satisfaction, fairness, restitution, diversion, recidivism and cost. We will also reference a meta-analysis approach to some of these questions recently carried out by a Canadian group (Lattimer, Dowden, and Muise, 2001) which offers considerable promise. A total of 63 empirical studies of restorative justice conferencing, from 5 countries were reviewed. This included 46 studies of victim offender mediation, 13 family group conferencing studies, and 4 assessments of peacemaking circles. (excerpt)

Walgrave, Lode. Restorative Juvenile Justice: A Way to Restore Justice in Western European Systems?

This chapter compares juvenile justice systems of several Western European countries. Five different means of dealing with young people who commit offenses can be identified in the European Union: a pure welfare approach; a welfare approach with some exceptions for penal interventions; a specific system of juvenile penal law; penal intervention with exceptions for educative concerns; and a purely retributive system. The chapter compares juvenile justice systems in four areas: (1) the age categories to which the countries' judicial intervention applies; (2) the agencies imposing coercive measures to minor delinquents; (3) possible special procedures for prosecuting minor delinquents, with special attention for educational concerns; and (4) specific educative or punitive measures taken against minors who committed an offense. The chapter compares the three basic models of reacting to juvenile crime: retributive, rehabilitative and restorative. It also explores restorative justice as a fully fledged juridical approach; discusses the prospects of restorative justice for juveniles; and describes two basic schemes of restorative justice: mediation and community service. Abstract courtesy of National Criminal Justice Refrence Service, www.ncjrs.org.

Stuart, Barry.. Circle Sentencing in Yukon Territory, Canada: A Partnership of the Community and the Criminal Justice System

This article describes and evaluates a Canadian system for dispute resolution that is premised on restorative justice. Throughout North America there has been an increasing interest in the development of alternative forums for dispute resolution that may more effectively address the needs of victims, offenders, and the community. Concurrent with this has been an attempt to alter the adversarial framework of the criminal justice system. This has included the development and implementation of case processing strategies premised on restorative justice and attempting to secure the participation of communities as partners in the resolution of disputes. One particularly innovative initiative is circle sentencing, which has been implemented in several communities in the Yukon, Canada. This paper outlines the procedure by which cases are processed in circle sentencing and discusses the involvement of the offender, the victim, the community, and the territorial court. The paper also describes several ways in which any community-based processes reliant on mediation and consensus skills can contribute to community well-being. Abstract courtesy of National Criminal Justice Reference Service, www.ncjrs.org.

Anonymous. 'Profound Impact on Inmates'

This article introduces the Sycamore Tree community-based restorative justice programme of Prison Fellowship of New Zealand, which will be started at the Waikeria and Auckland prisons. The programme is organized by Christians and begins with offenders who volunteer to participate in the sessions. It has four objectives--reconciliation, reparation, transformation, and a reduction in reoffending--and can lead to prisoners dealing with other surrounding issues. The celebration meal also affords prison management personnel an opportunity to involve families and victims in rehabilitation.

Claassen, Ron. Holistic Discipline

The author describes the application of Discipline That Restores (DTR) principles that his wife, Roxanne Claassen, has made in the classroom at Raisin City Elementary School. Originally met with scepticism, DTR training is now available to all teachers at the school, and detentions, suspensions, and fights have decreased dramatically while academic results are good. Also included are the 9 'Discipline That Restores' Principles, written by Ron Claassen, co-director of the Center of Peacemaking and Conflict Studies at Fresno Pacific University.

McGrath, Carla M. Using Alternative Dispute Resolution to Respond to Indian Residential School Abuse.

Roman Catholic, Anglican, and United Churches of Canada directed residential schools for aboriginal children from the 1840s to 1984. Funded by the federal government, the purpose of the schools was to assimilate aboriginal children into Euro-Canadian society. Conditions at the schools were generally poor and damaging to the children. The adverse conditions often included physical and sexual abuse. In recent years, thousands of victims have been filing civil actions against the churches and the federal government to enforce accountability and seek healing and redress. Carla McGrath expresses great sympathy with the perspectives and needs of the victims, but wonders whether civil litigation can achieve an appropriate and meaningful resolution of the issues. She contends that designing an alternative dispute resolution system to handle the civil litigation would be a more appropriate and meaningful option for victims and accused. Toward this end, she discusses the legal aspects of the problem, the parties’ interests and goals, alternative dispute resolution, and design issues and recommendations.

Haft, William. More Than Zero: The Cost of Zero Tolerance and the Case for Restorative Justice in Schools.

There is a trend in public education toward "zero tolerance" policies. Zero tolerance policies are designed to suspend or expel from public schools students who commit a single occurrence of proscribed conduct. The trend is largely a response to increased youth violence or the perception of increased youth violence, particularly in the aftermath of the Columbine High School shootings. In this context, William Haft contends that zero tolerance responses directly counter a fundamental purpose of public education, namely, the purpose of preparing children to live in a democratic society. Exclusionary policies should be a last resort not a first resort. Hence, it is necessary to have intermediate responses available to teachers and administrators. Haft urges the application of restorative justice principles and practices - particularly victim-offender mediation - as alternative responses to exclusionary policies in school settings.

Mirsky, Laura. Community Conferencing: An Interview with Gena Gerard

This online article consists of an interview conducted by Laura Mirsky with Gina Gerard. The interview took place in 2002 at the International Institute for Restorative Practices’s Third International Conference on Conferencing, Circles and other Restorative Practices. Gina Gerard is program manager for the restorative justice program of Central City Neighborhoods Partnership (CCNP), located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. CCNP’s conferencing program has been in operation for more than five years. It addresses livability issues and crimes that affect the quality of life in this urban Minneapolis community. The interview covers such topics as the origin of the CCNP community conferencing program, how community conferencing works, the role of the community in the project, and outcomes from the program.

Wachtel, Ted. Restorative Practices in Schools: An Antidote to Zero Tolerance

In response to incidents of misbehavior and violence in schools in recent years, many school systems have adopted zero tolerance policies. In this article, using real-life examples and results from various studies, Ted Wachtel argues that zero tolerance is intolerable. It is a policy that does more harm than good because it poisons relationships in the school community. Restorative practices provide a better response. They hold students accountable, but in a caring and supportive way that maintains and enhances good relationships.

Bargen, Catherine. Safe Schools: Strategies for Changing a Culture

Given trends of increasing violence and harassment in schools, many teachers, administrators, and communities are looking for new, more effective ways of dealing with school conflict. Various policies and programs are being tried - for example, zero tolerance policies, anti-bullying programs, and more - to make schools into "safe schools." Yet all of this raises questions about what a safe school looks like and how it is attained. In this context, Catherine Bargen highlights School District #35 in Langley, British Columbia, a system pursuing safe schools through the application of restorative justice principles to school discipline issues.

Riese, Jane. Anti-bullying Program Aims to Shift Culture in Schools: Is this Restorative Justice in Action?

Schools are tightly knit communities with particular qualities and patterns - that is, with their own culture. Recent incidents of intense violence in American schools have greatly altered the sense of safety in school communities. Yet a more subtle and ongoing form of violence - bullying or peer abuse - also affects individuals and school communities. With all of this in view, Jane Riese examines whether restorative concepts can be used in schools to address bullying. In particular she looks at an anti-bullying program pioneered by Dr. Dan Loweus, professor of psychology at the University of Bergen and author of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program.

Hopkins, Belinda. A Whole School Approach to Restorative Justice

In the last few years several initiatives in the United Kingdom have involved aspects of a restorative approach to school-based conflict and misbehavior. Most of the initiatives have utilized outside facilitators, such as the police, to offer restorative conferencing in schools. According to Belinda Hopkins, there is great enthusiasm in the Thames Valley for using restorative approaches in schools. This fits with the fact that The Thames Valley Police have been in the forefront of promoting restorative justice in response to youth offending. With all of this in view, Hopkins describes a current project to effect a restorative transformation of school culture in a variety of schools in England and Wales.

Warters, Bill and Sebok, Tom and Goldblum, Andrea and Sebok, Tom. Making Things Right: Restorative Justice Comes to Campuses.

As Warters, Sebok, and Goldblum note, conflict on university and college campuses comes in many forms, from the interpersonal all the way to the criminal. Often such conflict requires a response from university officials or others empowered to uphold community norms and rules. However, write the authors, practitioners of conflict resolution on campuses sometimes find the traditional systems of justice (e.g., grievance, disciplinary, criminal) cumbersome, ineffective, and even re-traumatizing for those involved. In this context, Warters, Sebok, and Goldblum explore the use of community group conferencing, based on restorative justice principles, as a more creative and more satisfying response to conflict on campuses. To illustrate, the authors describe the development and implementation of a formal restorative justice program at the University of Colorado at Boulder.