Prison

Restorative programmes in the prison setting are being used to help inmates understand the impact of crime on victims and the community and provide victims an opportunity to ask questions of their offenders and find their own path toward healing.

Restorative Justice: Crime and Healing

From the article by Robert C. Koehler at IHaveNet.com. "I have nowhere to talk about this except here in a prison setting," Peg said. "You are my community." The circle grew close, intimate -- sacred -- as the three women spoke. There were about 35 of us in all, sitting on hard plastic chairs. Twenty wore green: the inmates. The building was wrapped in razor wire. It was a maximum-security prison called Columbia Correctional Institution, in Portage, Wis. Built for 450 prisoners, it houses, two decades after it opened, about 900. The setting was old justice, but something new was happening. Not all that new, maybe. Restorative Justice -- a multifaceted system of criminal justice and conflict resolution that puts healing and truth-telling at its core, not punishment, revenge or the culling out of humanity's undesirables -- has been around and evolving for about 20 years now. It's slowly gaining a foothold in court systems and schools around the world: It is part, I'm certain, of an invisible wave of change that is transforming the planet. Nothing about it is simple, but something precious beyond compare can emerge from the process. Suffering can abate, torn lives and broken communities can heal, good can come from bad.

A view from behind bars: School of Theology and Ministry exhibition showcases artwork by American prisoners

from the article in The Boston College Chronicle: An exhibition of more than 40 works of art that depict images of grief and hope created by men imprisoned in American jails and penitentiaries will open at the School of Theology and Ministry on March 15. “Seeing the Man: Art From Behind Bars, A Vision of Restorative Justice and Healing” will be on display through April 30 in the Atrium Gallery of the STM Library, located at 117 Lake Street on Brighton Campus. The works of art are provided by Do-Right Ministries, a non-profit organization that raises awareness about the American justice system and promotes healing through art.

Anderson, Samantha and Karp, David R. Vermont’s Restorative Reentry Program: A Pilot in Burlington’s Old North End

The Vermont Department of Corrections (VDOC) has been one of the pioneers of restorative justice in the United States. VDOC continues this role with the application of restorative principles to their reentry program. A basic component of this effort is to modify Vermont’s reparative board model to organize community volunteers more effectively for participation in restorative justice panels. A restorative justice panel consists of community volunteers who meet with offenders reentering society. Community members provide advice and support for offenders on reentry. Samantha Anderson and David Karp review a pilot program for a restorative justice panel in the Old North End of Burlington, Vermont, a district with high crime rates and a significant number of released offenders.

Art helps heal crime's wounds

from the article by Howard Zehr in the Philadelphia Inquirer: I admit it. Sometimes I have Philly envy. Philadelphia has a Mural Arts Program, and the community in which I live does not. ....I have been drawn to the arts as a way of reframing the challenges of crime and trauma. The arts can engage the whole person to express or understand the harm done and help harness heart and intelligence to reduce isolation. The arts can provide a way to explore what can be done to give back, and to give voice to the full range of human experience. The act of creation can restore a sense of meaning and agency to those who harmed and those who have been harmed.

At this prison graduation, the focus is on knowing the effects of their crimes

from Doug Erickson's article in Wisconsin State Journal: ....During this season of high school and college graduations, 16 men received a very different kind of diploma Monday at Columbia Correctional Institution, a maximum security prison. Over three months, the inmates voluntarily completed a 30-session course on restorative justice, a curriculum meant to help them understand how much they'd harmed their victims, the community and themselves. For some of them, Monday's graduation ceremony was the first time they'd done anything worthy of even minimal praise. "I've been in all sorts of programs and always been kicked out," said Darren Morris, 33, whose peers voted him class speaker.

Blomquist, Todd. Restorative Justice – Reflections on Dialogue

At the time of writing this reflection, Todd Blomquist was a resident of the Restorative Justice Unit at Grande Cache Institution, Alberta, Canada. Here he shares aspects of his personal journey into crime, as well his experiences in prison, particularly his exposure to restorative justice ideas and values through peacemaking circles at Grande Cache Institution. He credits these circles with his growing awareness of the impact of his crimes and his lifestyle decisions on himself and on others. He expresses the growth and hope he has gained from restorative justice ideas, the circles and peer support in the Restorative Justice Unit, and the welding career he is learning while incarcerated.

Bridges to Life Restorative Justice Program PBS Video

Bridges to Life is an in-prison restorative justice programme helping prisoners understand the impact of crime on victims. This three minute clip shows victims sharing their stories and the response from prisoner participants.

Bridges to Life: A Promising In-Prison Restorative Justice Intervention

Bridges to Life is an in-prison restorative justice programme that facilitates meetings between offenders and unrelated victims. This article is drawn from a paper by Marilyn Armour, assistant professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Texas at Austin. The complete article is attached.

Burns, Heather. Citizens, Victims & Offenders Restoring Justice Project: Minnesota Correctional Facility Lino Lakes, September-November 2001.

The Citizens, Victims, & Offenders Restoring Justice Project was designed to bring together crime victims, offenders, and community members to address the causes and consequences of crime in personal dialogues. The project at the Minnesota Correctional Facility in Lino Lakes took place over three months. Dialogues occurred in a circle process with the assistance of facilitators. Facilitators even shared personal experiences related to incidences of violence or loss in their own lives. Participants completed surveys before and after the project to measure desired outcomes, and the meetings were audio-taped with the consent of the participants. Organized into case studies, this document presents the key findings of the project based on the completed surveys, tapes of the meetings, and observe notes.

Burns, Heather. Citizens, Victims, & Offenders Restoring Justice Project: Minnesota Correctional Facility for Women at Shakopee, September 26-November 21, 2000.

The Minnesota Correctional Facility in Shakopee is the only correctional facility in the state designed to house adult women felons. The Citizens, Victims, & Offenders Restoring Justice Project at MCF-Shakopee was a nine-week pilot project designed to bring crime victims, offenders, and community members together to address the causes and consequences of crime in personal dialogues. Dialogues occurred in a circle process with the assistance of facilitators. Participants completed surveys before and after the project to measure desired outcomes. This document presents the key findings of the project based on the completed surveys.

Colorado mother wishes for meeting with son's killers

from Ivan Moreno's article in the San Francisco Chronicle: The 3-year-old boy affectionately known as "Biscuit" was sleeping in the back of a parked old Cadillac when the shooting began. Fourteen bullets hit the car in the drive-by shooting outside a northeast Denver duplex. Biscuit was shot in the head and died. His brother, Calvin, four days shy of his 7th birthday, and a teenage cousin were unhurt. Sharletta Evans — mother of Biscuit, or Casson Xavier Evans — came to forgive the gunmen, who were 15 and 16 years old at the time of the Dec. 21, 1995, shooting. But it took years for her to decide she wanted to meet them in prison, hoping for closure. A new Colorado law encourages the state Department of Corrections to facilitate such reconciliation meetings. Yet it's a process that requires they be safe and don't backfire on victims. And prison officials say there's simply no money to make it happen in the near future.

Dialogues can offer healing for crime victims

from Ryan Marshall's article in the Carroll County Times: Recovering from a crime can be a deeply personal process for victims, but Maryland's corrections system offers victims who are interested a chance to interact with their attackers. The state is able to arrange dialogues between victims and the person incarcerated for their crime.

Dominican Republic: Losing freedom but not dignity

from Elizabeth Eames Roebling's article at IPS.org: There are 236 women here [new model women's prison in Najayo, Dominican Republic], part of a plan to convert the entire penal system in the Dominican Republic to correctional centres of restorative justice. That concept is broadly defined as institutionalising peaceful approaches to harm, problem-solving and violations of legal and human rights. These range from international tribunals like the South Africa Truth and Reconciliation Commission to innovations within the criminal and juvenile justice systems, schools, social services and communities.

Forget, Marc. Restorative justice in prisons: An evolution from Victim Offender Mediation in 1998, to a restorative prison wing in 2001, to a holistic, multi-sector project in 2004.

The three projects that are highlighted in this presentation were selected because they represent a very broad spectrum of restorative approaches applied to the prison environment. Each of these 3 projects is in a different phase of implementation. The first project is the oldest (1998), and provides a lot of evaluative data; the second project has been operating for 4 years and is currently undergoing its fist evaluation; the third project is the newest, and not all aspects of its programs have been implemented yet. (excerpt)

Giving back: RCI’s Restorative Justice Program helps inmates help others

from Christine Won's article in the Journal times: On a recent Friday morning, 13 inmates at the Racine Correctional Institution in Sturtevant diligently worked on their needlework, their nimble fingers pulling together tiny stitches or weaves. The fruits of their toil lay strewn about the tables: a Mickey Mouse look-alike, a doll, random bears and other stuffed animals, as well as scarves, hats and more slowly took shape. Those bears and lamb pillows have made their way into little hands around the community, and those mittens and gloves will keep others warm this winter. Charity Crafts is part of the prison’s Restorative Justice Program, through which inmates find ways to give back to the community, according to Tommie Thomas, RCI program supervisor.

Goodenough-Gordon, Katya. RADIUS Program for Girls in Minnesota Offers a Gender-Specific Model.

RADIUS is an innovative effort that blends the philosophies of restorative justice with the best practices of gender- responsive programming for girls under 18. Restorative services are provided to girls while they are in residential placement, during their transition and furlough, and after release. The two key components of the program are restorative justice circles and grief and trauma counseling. (excerpt)

Gordon, Katya Goodenough. From Corrections to Connections: A Report on the AMICUS Girls Restorative Program.

Corrections professionals are looking for new models that can effectively address the needs of women and girls in the corrections system and take on the unique challenges they pose. For the past four years, the Minnesota Department of Corrections has partnered with AMICUS (a non-profit agency) and a juvenile residential placement facility to provide a gender-responsive program for serious and chronic female juvenile offenders. “The Girls Restorative Program” is an innovative effort that blends the philosophies of restorative justice with the best practices of gender-responsive programming for girls. Restorative services are provided to girls while they are in residential placement, during their transition and furlough, and after release. (excerpt)

Haarala, Lloyd. A Community Within

A member and elder of the Anishinaabe of N.W. Angle Band #33, Lake of the Woods, Ontario, Lloyd Haarala is also the native spiritual advisor at William Head Institution, a correctional facility in British Columbia. He tells in this article of a recent Spring Fasting opportunity at William Head Institution. A former inmate nearing the end of his Warrant Expiry Date asked and received permission to live in the facility for the week of fasting to help current inmates. Haarala explains how this exemplifies the value held among First Nations’ people of giving back to their communities. This emphasis on community, also found in restorative justice, is as much a matter of the heart as the head, says Haarala. Further, restorative justice as the importance of family and community should be the norm for society in general, not only when crime or wrongdoing occur.

Helfgott, Jacqueline B and Lovell, Madeline L and Lawrence, Charles F and Lovell, Madeline L. Accountability, healing, and hope through storytelling and dialogue

In this article, the authors describe the Citizens, Victims, and Offenders Restoring Justice (CVORJ) project. A response to legislative changes in the state correctional system, CVORJ was a prison-based program conducted as a pilot study at the Washington State Reformatory. It began in 1997 and continued into 2000. CVORJ consisted of a twelve-week program with a weekly meeting and ongoing follow-up discussions about the effects of crime. Readings and discussions about restorative justice were also part of the program. Participants included victims of crime, offenders, and citizens. The authors of the article look at the structure of the program, selection of seminar participants, the seminar process, and findings from a program evaluation.

Herron, Bobbie J. . Citizens Circles: A Road Map to Successful Community Involvement Promoting Responsible Citizenship

Citizen Circles create partnerships that promote positive social interaction and accountability for offenders upon release. Circle members address risks that contribute to criminal activity by taking ownership over the solution. It is an opportunity for citizens to communicate expectations for successful reentry and help offenders recognize the harm their behavior has caused others. Offenders are able to make amends and demonstrate their value and potential to the community. (excerpt) This manual provides an overview of the Citizen Circles.