CRJ 3573 Restorative Justice

Victim Offender Mediation- when did it start and where?

(1974) Elmira, Ontario

Where and when did Family Group Conferencing Start?

(1989) New Zealand

Circles began what year and where?

(1992) Canada

Victim-Offender Mediation (VOM)

- Opportunity to meet one another - Relies on victim/offender to resolve their conflict - Empower participants, promote dialogue, encourage problem solving

Conferencing:

- The process is facilitated, not mediated. - Includes families and support groups, as well as offender and victim. - Used in juvenile cases. Satisfaction level is very high.

Normative Values

-Active responsibility taking initiative to help perserve and promote restorative values. -Peaceful social life responding to crime in ways that build harmony and community well-being. -Respect treating all parties to a crime with dignity and worth. -Solidarity the experience of support and connectedness.

What is Restorative Justice?

-Crime causes harm and justice should focus on reparing that harm. -All of the people most affected by the crime should be able to participate in its resolution. -The responsibility of individuals and communities is to build peace.

Values and goals of RJ:

-needs, obligations, RESPECT

What is a crime? (Classical view)

-violation of law -injury to society

What is a crime? (Restorative justice)

-violation of relationship -injury to individual

Elements of Amends

1. Apology, 2. Restitution 3. Change (changed behavior, generosity)

5 models of Restorativeness

1. Augment 2. Dual track 3. Safety net 4. Hybrid 5. Unitary

Transformation of perspective

1. Creativity - entails risks 2. Openness to learning - how to order our thoughts in a different pattern 3. Finding new ways of looking at familiar problems. 4. Alternative approaches

Kay pranks RJ

1. Find your natural allies 2. Avoid becoming identified with a particular political, ideological, or sectarian label 3. Listen to those who disagree 4. Put victims first 5. Focus on values and vision 6. Be aware of assumptions and stereotypes

Inclusion for Victims:

1. Information - services and rights, status of case. 2. Presence in Court - attend all proceedings. 3. Victim Impact Statements - right fro the victim's story to be heard. 4. Legal Standing - restitution at sentencing 5. Victim and Prosecutor - to convict the guilty, enforce the rights of the public,and guard the rights of the accused.

Elements of inclusion

1. Invitation 3. Acknowledgement of interests 3. Acceptance of alternative approaches

Elements of Encounter

1. Meeting 2. Communication (Narrative, Emotion,Understanding) 3. Agreement

Elements of transformation

1. Perspective 2. Structures 3. Persons

Elements of reintegration

1. Safety 2. Respect 3. Assistance (material, moral and spiritual guidance)

Building support for RJ

1. The agency, organization or legislative committee 2. Organization and individual/supporters 3. Broader community

Three basic objectives of encounter programs

1. To identify the injustice - telling their stories. 2. To make things right - exploring how the offender might begin to repair the harm. 3. To conisder future intentions - setting restitution schedule, addressing the underlying issues.

Define Operational Values:

1: INCLUSION, Including the Victim 2: ENCOUNTER, Meeting between victim, offender, and facilitator 3: AMENDS, Apology Take responsibility Acknowledge harm. Recognize that the victim did not deserve to be harmed. Wait for victim to accept the apology. 4: REINTEGRATION, The goal is to help both víctim and offender be whole, contributing members of their communities. 5: RESOLUTION,

Who is Howard Zehr

A noted criminal justice consultant and author, as well as a distinguished professor of restorative justice... known as the "grandfather of restorative justice"

Changed behavior

Changed values, changed behavior 1; change the environment 2; learn new behaviors 3; reward positive change

Process of circles

Circles can include any community member - Builds relationships before discussing the core issues - Delays the dialogue about sensitive issues until work has been done on relationships - Introduction round invites people to share something about themselves - Relationship-building generates a deeper awareness among circle participants

What approach is used in circles?

Community-based decision-making approach Facilitated community meetings

Which type of RJ process is used for Juvenile cases?

Conferencing

Howard Zehr's definition of Restorative Justice from the victim's perspective

Crime is a violation of people and relationships...creates obligations to make things right. Justice involves the victim, the offender, and the community in a search for solutions which promote restoration & reassurance.

Two different views of Justice?

Crimnial justice and Restorative Justice.

Generosity

Going beyond the demands of justice and equity

The Criminal Justice Process:

The legal system is adversarial. Outcomes are imposed.

Distributive Justice is based on?

Therapeutic treatment

Impact panels

Victims and offenders Linked by a common kind of crime Not each others victims or offenders MADD

RJ Principle 2

Victims, offenders, and communities should have the opportunity for active involvement in the justice process as early and as fully as they wish. • Defendants have few incentives to assume responsibility • Victims are too often "pieces of evidence" • Community participation is limited

Encounter Programs are committed to:

Voluntary participation. Contemporary criminal justice is coercive.

RJ Principle 3

We must rethink the relative roles and responsibilities of government and community: in promoting justice, government is responsible for preserving a just order and the community for establishing a just peace. • Government-just public order -As imposed order increases, personal freedom decreases • Community-just peace -Peace requires a community's commitment

Circle sentencing

a strategy which attempts to hold the offender accountable, recognize and honour the needs of victims

Circles derived from?

aboriginal peacemaking practices

Victim Participation at Various stages:

investigation - private or public interest. Arraignment - safety issue Plea Bargaining - restittution vs. efficiency Sentencing - punishment, compensation, rehabilitation. Post-Sentencing - feasibility of restitution recovery.

What is the facilitator called for circles?

keeper

Forgiveness is:

letting go of the power the offense and the offender have over a person. It does not mean forgetting what happened.

Retributive Justice is based on?

punishment

Victim reintegration

safety, financial costs, and treatment for any trauma they may have

Elements of reintegration

safety, respect, help , and care

Offenders reintegration

taking responsibility, accepting accountability, and recognizing the effects their crimes has had on others

What are the 2 problems with using Restorative Justice in the Criminal Justice system?

Government is not included in this. We do not know if everyone is recieving equal care and treatment.

Who is Albert Eglash?

He came up with 3 types of criminal justice terms (1958). Retributive Justice, Distributive Justice, Restorative Justice.

Elements of Inclusion:

Invitation Recognition Acceptance of the interests of the person invited Willingness to accept alternative approaches that better fit that individual Direct and full involvement Keep them informed of case status Permit them to observe the proceedings Permit them to make a formal presentation in court Give them the right to full participation

Howard Zehr's definition of Restorative Justice from the offender's perspective

It forms an intrinsic link between the crime & the consequence --the harm to people and communities-- and encourages making things right to the extent that it is possible to do so.

RJ Principle 1

Justice requires that we work to heal victims, offenders, and communities injured by crime. • Primary and secondary victims • Community • Offenders

What culture is Family Group Counseling from?

Maori culture

Restorative Processes

Mediation/Conferencing/Circles -Victim-Offender Mediation -Family Group Conferencing -Circles -Impact Panels

Braithwaite reintegration

Mutual respect, mutual commitment, intolerance for but understanding of deviant behavior

What are 2 benefits of using Restorative Justice in schools?

One benefit is that it helps build bonds between the students, teachers, parents, and councilers. Another reason is that it reduces the number of suspentions and expulsions.

What are the 2 benefits of using Restorative Justice in the Criminal Justice system?

One benefit is that it is cheaper than sending someone to prison for years. Another is that it helps both people come to an understading.

What are 2 problems with using Restorative Justice in schools?

One problem is that some schools can't afford to pay for good councilers. Another is that it might not improve behavior.

What laws have been broken? •Who did it? •What do they deserve?

Questions the Criminal Justice System ask.

Who has been hurt? •What are their needs? •Whose obligations are these?

Questions the Restorative Justice System Ask.

Restorative justice is based on?

Restitution

What is the definition of restorative justice?

Restorative Justice is a theory of justice that emphasizes repairing the harm caused or revealed by criminal behavior. It is best accomplished through cooperative processes that include all stakeholders.

A truth and reconciliation committee is formed to investigate human rights and includes victims, perpetrators, and other members of the community. What step in the restorative justice process is this?

STEP 2 ENCOUNTER: Meeting between victim, offender, and facilitator

A woman injured in drunk driving accident has a conversation with the driver who hit her and explains how painful her physical therapy has been. What step in the restorative justice process is this?

STEP 2 ENCOUNTER: Meeting between victim, offender, and facilitador. Letters or messages delivered by third party. Families might be included. Victim-offender panels. Narrative, Emotion, Understanding, Agreement, Forgiveness?

A man who spent ten years in prison joins a support group and a job training program when he is released. What step in the restorative justice process is this?

STEP 4 REINTEGRATION: The goal is to help both víctim and offender be whole, contributing members of their communities.

Community reintegration

Safety, respect, help, care (moral and spiritual guidance)

Elements of a circle

Seating in a circle Opening ceremony Centerpiece Discussing values guidelines Talking piece Guiding questions Closing ceremony

What system is Family Group Conferencing based on?

Social welfare system not the criminal justice system

A family of a murder víctim meets with the murderer to discuss what his sentence should be. What step in the restorative justice process is this?

Step 1 Inclusion: Information on the trial Presence in court Victim impact statements Legal participation in deciding punishment (restorative practice)

A student who was suspended for vandalizing the classroom offers to clean the classroom everyday for 2 weeks. What step in the restorative justice process is this?

Step 3 Amends: Take responsibility. Acknowledge harm. Recognize that the victim did not deserve to be harmed. Wait for victim to accept the apology. Changed behavior. Generosity. Restitution.

Crime is a violation of the law and the state. • Violations create guilt. • Justice requires the state to determine guilt and impose punishment.

The Criminal Justice System

Criminal Justice focuses almost entirely on:

The Offender. Its about guilt and punishment.

The Restorative Justice Process:

The RJ processes are collaborative and inclusive. Outcomes are mutally agreed upon, not imposed.

Crime is a violation of people and relationships. • Violations create obligations. • Justice involves victims, offenders, and community members to put things right.

The Restorative Justice System

Restorative justice addresses:

The actual direct harm that occurred as a result of the crime, as well as the ripple effects that often span out to include victims, victims' families, offenders' families, businesses and the community.

Who is the future of the Maori culture?

The children

Apology

Acknowledgment, affect, vulnerability

Operational Values

Amends. Encounter. Inclusion. Reintegration. Resolution.