Restorative Practice Resources Tagged With: community

Restorative Justice is a range of processes that advocates that the people most effective at finding a solution to a problem are the people who are most directly impacted by the problem, creating opportunities, for those involved in a conflict to work together to understand, clarify and resolve the incident and work together towards repairing the harm caused.

The Centre for Restorative Justice was formed in 1997 as a response to community concern about the over-use of incarceration in South Australia and because victims of crime at that stage were not able to engage appropriately in the functions of the criminal justice system.

Notes for an address by The Honourable Jody Wilson-Raybould, PC, QC, MP Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, September 13, 2018

Extract: The first initiative is expanding the use of restorative justice, which emphasizes repairing the relationship between the victim and the offender.

Restorative justice is focused more on collaboration and inclusivity, and is often more culturally relevant and responsive to specific communities. Victims have a powerful voice, and this process allows them to be heard and to heal, while at the same time, holding the offender accountable for their actions.

In this sense, I sometimes view restorative justice as acting as a kind of “circuit-breaker” from the cycle that so many find themselves caught in.

While restorative justice has been part of Canada’s criminal justice system for over 40 years, and has proven effective over that period, it is still not widely available across the country.

A 2011 Department of Justice Canada report found that Indigenous people who completed a community-based alternative to mainstream justice, such as restorative justice, were significantly less likely to re-offend than those who did not. I am committed to expanding this resource so it can be more widely used and accepted across the country.

In my conversations with other educators, there is usually confusion around the definition of restorative practices due to the common emphasis placed on restorative justice, which focuses on repairing relationships when harm has occurred as an alternative to punitive approaches to discipline. In contrast, restorative practices focus on not only repairing, but also building and strengthening relationships and social connections within communities. The mainstream conception of restorative justice is credited to Howard Zehr and is thought to have originated within the criminal justice system in the 1970s. However, a 2017 report from the Zehr Institute for Restorative Justice, notes the growing demand from the field that practitioners acknowledge many of the values and practices of restorative justice come directly from Indigenous communities in North America and across the globe.

'The Justice Reform Initiative is an alliance of people who share long-standing professional experience, lived experience and/or expert knowledge of the justice system, who are further supported by a movement of Australians of goodwill from across the country and across the political spectrum.

We believe jailing is failing and that there is an urgent need to reduce the number of people in Australian prisons. We believe that the over-use of prisons is fundamentally harmful to those in prison, their family and friends, and the broader community.

We believe that prisons are ineffective as a deterrent, ineffective at reducing crime, and ineffective at addressing the drivers of criminal justice system involvement.

We believe that the over-use of incarceration is a waste of human potential and a misuse of taxpayer dollars.

The evidence shows that the majority of people entering prison usually arrive there because of an underpinning cycle of disadvantage and that prison both exacerbates and entrenches a broader cycle of disadvantage, which needs to be broken.

We believe the moment has come for change, with a combination of political, economic and social forces coalescing to create an opportunity to genuinely challenge and respond to our overreliance on incarceration – and offer up an alternative vision.'

'Envisioning Queer Justice Collaborative

JUST RELEASED! After six community peacebuilding circles across the state of Minnesota (prior to the pandemic), over 100 pages of transcripts, and receiving input from those in the Queer community, Envisioning Queer Justice Collaborative is so excited to release the findings from our LGBTQ+ youth justice circles.
To learn about how some Queer youth in Minnesota define safety, distinguish punishment and accountability, and envision justice, read the full report here: '

'Connecting individuals building restorative communities on campuses around the world.

Restorative universities care about community. That means respectful relationships come first. We work to build these respectful communities in our student body, residence halls, faculty and staff.'

'Through the mechanism of the ACT Restorative Justice Network, we aim to build Canberra as a restorative community through growing and widening the circle of people who are interested in connecting, sharing and promoting their experiences and knowledge of restorative justice approaches. Our goal is to expand restorative justice principles and practice across the Canberra community.'

Discovering Restorative’s True Potential - Free Webinar Terry O'Connell, Kerrie Sellen and Paulo Moratelli are offering a FREE webinar to talk about how Restorative Practice can be used to significantly improve your practice. We are experienced restorative practitioners who over many years have learned how to use ‘restorative’ as a relational foundation for everything we do, both in our personal and professional lives. Simply, we want to challenge you to reflect on your own practice, identify what Works, then discover the difference restorative practice can make in strengthening your practice by making it more explicit, intentional, consistent and impactful. We will provide an insight into how our explicit restorative practice framework has provided a clear practice rationale that emphasises the importance of understanding the ‘why’ of what we do. We will also share how our values, beliefs and working assumptions influence and shape our practice. We will draw on case studies to show how explicit restorative practice has the potential to build relational capacity in almost an situation, example such as: one-on-one interactions, dealing with complex and traumatic matters through to developing a more humane organisational culture in schools and workplaces. Terry O’Connell is a restorative pioneer, best known as the ‘cop from Wagga Wagga’ who in 1991 developed the restorative conference script used by the IIRP. Over the past thirty years his work has continued to evolve and has had considerable influence in a variety of setting including policing, schools, corrections, workplaces and community agencies across the world. Kerrie Sellen is an experienced youth worker whose innovative restorative work led to the establishment of arguably the world’s first fully restorative organisation Re-Engage Youth Services in 2009. This award-winning organisation was known for how it integrated restorative practice in everything with leadership and staff but importantly with young people and their families. Kerrie now runs Restorative Journeys and provides mentor, coaching and training support for a wide and diverse range of organisations and practitioners throughout Australia. Paulo Moratelli is a brazilian Psychologist, Executive Director of Coonozco / Diálogos Transformativos, lecturer and independent instructor of Restorative Justice, Transformative Dialogues and Transformative Circles (a method he developed), and Peacemaking Circles. He is Delegate for Brazil of the Sociedad Científica de Justicia Restaurativa (Spain), and Member of the Global Advisory Council of Restorative Justice International (USA).

'IIRP Continuing Education brings together leading research, theory and practice. We offer a growing array of online professional development events to teach you concepts and soft skills needed to stand out in your professional environment. Our experienced instructors are skilled practitioners, adept at helping you learn and implement restorative practices in your setting. For more than 10 years, the IIRP Graduate School has pioneered master's-level online learning in the social science of relationships and community. Our faculty bring their wealth of knowledge to support the design and structure of our online offerings.'

'It seems like a herculean task to ask every single person in a school to contribute to your schoolwide expectations. However, the Restorative Practice of the community circle is an excellent way to intentionally work together to establish community values and behavioral expectations. Restorative Practices ideals emphasize that “rules” established by authority figures are less likely to create the positive community we are seeking. Instead, our standards for how we interact should be co-created (WITH) so everyone feels like they contributed. When we adults show respect for students' needs and listen to their voice, we are modeling to them how to respect the needs of others. As students help in creating schoolwide and classroom expectations, they get to experience mutual respect and shared power.'

'It seems like a herculean task to ask every single person in a school to contribute to your schoolwide expectations. However, the Restorative Practice of the community circle is an excellent way to intentionally work together to establish community values and behavioral expectations. Restorative Practices ideals emphasize that “rules” established by authority figures are less likely to create the positive community we are seeking. Instead, our standards for how we interact should be co-created (WITH) so everyone feels like they contributed. When we adults show respect for students' needs and listen to their voice, we are modeling to them how to respect the needs of others. As students help in creating schoolwide and classroom expectations, they get to experience mutual respect and shared power.'

'As many of us gather virtually during this time of COVID-19, we feel a need to talk about what is happening and how we’re being affected. The impact has to do with those who become sick, obviously. The rest of us who are settling in place in our homes and maintaining physical distance are also dramatically affected. Early in the crisis, a teacher asked, “I’m out of school; all my students are at home. What’s a good circle prompt to do at this time?”'

'As many of us gather virtually during this time of COVID-19, we feel a need to talk about what is happening and how we’re being affected.

The impact has to do with those who become sick, obviously. The rest of us who are settling in place in our homes and maintaining physical distance are also dramatically affected.

Early in the crisis, a teacher asked, “I’m out of school; all my students are at home. What’s a good circle prompt to do at this time?”'

'How are restorative practices and community health related? Restorative practices strengthens relationships between individuals as well as social connections within communities. Restorative practices can also help to increase people's personal and collective efficacy. These positive outcomes influence sense of community. People with greater sense of community are more likely to act in healthy ways and work with others to promote well-being for all.'