Restorative Practice Resources Tagged With: USA

Video:

Relationships First: Restorative Justice Education

Do you wonder what is at the foundation of Restorative Justice Education? Have you ever wondered about things as simple as how to organize a circle in the space you have available? This clear and accessible description of the foundational components of a holistic approach to implementing Circle processes is unique in that it answers questions many of us are hesitant to ask. 2018.

Dr. Howard Zehr, also known as the “grandfather of restorative justice,” has been documenting the impact of life sentences since the 1970s. Restorative justice is an approach to justice that focuses on collaboration and communication between the offender and the victim.

His new book Still Doing Life: 22 Lifers, 25 Years Later, checks in with individuals serving life sentences in Pennsylvania. The book is a sequel to his 1996 work Doing Life, which introduces the individuals and shares their stories.

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.

'What is restorative justice?

There is no one definitive answer to this question. Restorative justice is a burgeoning philosophical framework that asks people to rethink the best way to respond to harmful behavior.

Perhaps the most expansive definition comes from Griffith University criminologist Kathleen Daly, who calls restorative justice “a set of ideals about justice that assumes a generous, empathetic, supportive, and rational human spirit.”'

'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: '

'Some advocate for training SROs to be more restorative; however, SROs have shown that training on how to interact with students as mentors does not change their racist policing behaviors. Before Minneapolis Public Schools terminated their contract with the MPD, they had been unsuccessfully trying to transform the role of their SROs from “enforcer” to “mentor” and still police officers were disproportionately “interacted with” black students. (Minneapolis Star Tribune) In 2016, the Police Accountability Task Force released a report that found systemic and institutionalized racism in all areas of the Chicago Police Department. The task force concluded that “CPD’s own data and other information strongly suggests that CPD’s response to the violence is not sufficiently imbued with Constitutional policing tactics and is also comparatively void of actual procedural and restorative justice in the day-to-day encounters between the police and citizens.”'

'Free the People is proud to bring you How to Love Your Enemy: A Restorative Justice Story. Winner of Best Feature and Best Director at the Front Range International Film Festival. A city in Colorado tries a different kind of justice system powerful enough to change the incarceration game of the U.S. Instead of locking up non-violent offenders, these advocates focus on the challenging but rewarding process of apology, forgiveness, and redemption that radically shifts our idea of justice and our part in it.'

'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?”'

'Unaddressed childhood trauma changes how we respond to the world and when triggered, we make choices that sometimes have devastating consequences including domestic violence, addiction, murder and prison. I, too, would have been incarcerated had I not had the privilege and support system I lucked into. Let's shift the paradigm of how we incarcerate, isolate and dehumanize the most traumatized members of our society.'

'Unaddressed childhood trauma changes how we respond to the world and when triggered, we make choices that sometimes have devastating consequences including domestic violence, addiction, murder and prison. I, too, would have been incarcerated had I not had the privilege and support system I lucked into. Let's shift the paradigm of how we incarcerate, isolate and dehumanize the most traumatized members of our society.'

'Personal, Daily Connections As soon as schools closed, Lurenz-Seguin knew she needed to maintain a personal, daily connection with her students. Many of them are still developing language skills, and she wanted to continue building on the progress they had made in class, she said. In Lurenz-Seguin's virtual circle times, she breaks the block of time into chunks. First, she and the students sing a good morning song, then they move onto the days of the week, then practicing vocabulary and having conversations.'

'We spend over thirteen billion dollars a year on this system in the name of public safety. In this time of pandemic, where our hospitals lack respirators, masks, and intensive care beds, the cost of our failure to create a criminal justice system focused on rehabilitation rather than punishment will be borne by the most vulnerable, both inside and outside of prison.'

' Van Buren’s most ambitious undertaking so far is the reimagining of a hulking 471,000 square foot Detention Center in downtown Atlanta. [...] Van Buren has been working with social justice organizations and a mayoral task force to transform the site into an “Equity Center” that will incorporate financial literacy, job training, access to legal services and other community needs. — The New York Times '

'A panel of advocates and scholars discuss what restorative justice looks like and how it could potentially provide alternatives to the current criminal justice system. The panel featured Liz Porter-Merrill, restorative justice director for the Office of the Colorado State Public Defender; Mikayla Waters-Crittenton, executive assistant/program associate at Restorative Justice Project; and Shannon Sliva, assistant professor at the University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work. Professor Josh Bowers acted as moderator. This panel was part of the 2020 Shaping Justice conference, sponsored by UVA Law’s Mortimer Caplin Public Service Center and Program in Law and Public Service; the Public Interest Law Association; and numerous other student organizations. (University of Virginia School of Law, Feb. 7, 2020)'

Dec. 12, 2019 — Researchers in the UTSA College of Public Policy, assistant professor of social work Jelena Todic and criminal justice lecturer and restorative justice coordinator Robert Rico are joining forces with Up Partnership and three local school districts in a collaborative applied researc...