A restorative encounter has five interwoven elements: meeting, narrative, emotion, understanding, and agreement. Each of these elements contributes to the strength of the encounter. One that features all five elements will be most powerful in helping parties move toward healing.

Encourage collaboration and reintegration rather than coercion and isolation; Give attention to the unintended consequences of our actions and programs; Show respect to all parties, including victims, offenders and justice colleagues.

impact, consequences, and reparation. The principles of restorative justice define crime as an injury and recognize the need for actions to repair that injury, plus a commitment to involve all those affected in the response to crime.

Restorative justice places the victim and the offender at the centre of the process as its main characters, seeking their empowerment and satisfaction, the reparation of the harm caused, the involvement of the community and the re-establishment of the existing human relationships.

Howard Zehr (2002) lists the three pillars of Restorative Justice as:

• Harms and Needs: Who was harmed, what was the harm? How can it be repaired?
• Obligations: Who is responsible and accountable and how can he/she repair the harm?
• Engagement: Victims and Offenders have active roles in the Justice process.

5 Examples of Restorative Justice

• Victim assistance. Victim assistance, as the name implies, focuses on the victims and survivors of crime.
• Community service. When someone commits a crime, they are harming the victims and the community as a whole.
• Victim-offender mediation.
• Peacemaking circles.
• Family group conferencing.

Restorative justice is commonly defined as an approach to justice that focuses on addressing the harm caused by crime while holding the offender responsible for their actions, by providing an opportunity for the parties directly affected by the crime – victims, offenders and communities – to identify and address their …

Restorative justice refers to a way of responding to crime, or to other types of wrongdoing, injustice or conflict, that focuses primarily on repairing the damage caused by the wrongful action and restoring, insofar as possible, the well-being of all those involved.

This article points out that there are four different types of justice: distributive (determining who gets what), procedural (determining how fairly people are treated), retributive (based on punishment for wrong-doing) and restorative (which tries to restore relationships to “rightness.”) All four of these are …

Terms in this set (10)

• Limit 1: There is no agreed-upon definition of RJ.
• Limit 2: RJ deals with the penalty, not fact-finding phase of the criminal process.
• Limit 3: It is easier to achieve fairness than restorativeness in an RJ process.
• Limit 4: A “sincere apology” is difficult to achieve.

Some of the criticisms of restorative justice also relate to the way conditions aimed at fostering the participation of victims and offenders are set. Too often, the victim’s and the offender’s status have not been carefully assessed or their needs have not undergone a comprehensive analysis.

Disadvantages

• not available to all offenders, only those who have admitted their crime but victims may reject the offer.
• psychological harm may be brought to the victim especially if the criminal shows no empathy towards them which may result in a lowered self esteem.

They are involved in the process of repairing the harm they caused and, in doing so, are more likely to feel accountable for their actions. Restorative justice can be used in all types of cases: from petty crimes and misdemeanors to sex offenses, domestic violence and murder.

Restorative justice compares well with traditional criminal justice: It substantially reduces repeat offending for some offenders, although not all, It reduces crime victims’ post-traumatic stress symptoms and the related costs, and. It reduces crime victims’ desire for violent revenge against their offenders.

Any discussion of justice includes the themes of fairness, equality, and impartiality.

Restorative justice does not need to be disclosed on a standard criminal records bureau (CRB) check. Restorative justice may be disclosed for an enhanced CRB check where it would be proportionate and relevant. A restorative justice disposal may be used with the offender on the basis of public interest.

Guidance: The six principles of restorative practice set out the core values of the field of restorative practice. They cover the following areas: restoration, voluntarism, neutrality, safety, accessibility and respect.

Restorative justice is clearly different from the predominant punitive apriorism in the current criminal justice response to crime. It is neither an alternative punishment nor complementary to punishment.

The meeting The Restorative Justice Conference is a meeting between the person who was harmed and the perpetrator, along with two trained Restorative Justice facilitators. The facilitator then asks similar questions to the person affected by the crime, and to the other people in the room.

The focus is on healing as opposed to punishment. Other important principles of restorative justice include offender accountability for wrongdoing, respect for all participants, and the centrality of the victim throughout the process.

Where offenders are provided with help to change their lives, but victims are not provided help to deal with their trauma, victims feel betrayed by the offender orientation of restorative justice. Restorative justice may also promote unrealistic or unreasonable goals.

The use of restorative strategies in the classroom is an innovative approach to conflict resolution. It involves repairing relationships, including restorative actions by the offender and forgiveness on the part of the victim. In the classroom, this approach is typically associated with bullying.

Restorative justice empowers students to resolve conflicts on their own and in small groups, and it’s a growing practice at schools around the country. For the growing number of districts using restorative justice, the programs have helped strengthen campus communities, prevent bullying, and reduce student conflicts.

Restorative Practices in School

1. Here are 5 ideas to help you bring Restorative Practices into your classroom: Mindfulness.
2. Mindfulness. Mindfulness is the ability to be fully present and aware of where you are and what you are doing.
3. Restorative Circles.
4. Affective Statements.
5. Collaborative Class Agreements.
6. Problem-Solving Anchor Chart.

To implement restorative justice with fidelity, start with these steps.

1. First, intentionally create a community that is anchored in shared values.
2. Second, make participation in the community a requirement, not an option.
3. Third, model and teach your community values.

Implementing Restorative Practices in Schools Mindfulness practices. Using restorative circles. Using affective (emotional) statements. Forming collaborative class agreements.

The general format most people use goes: offender, victim, victim’s supporter, and offender’s supporter. As a circle facilitator, ask each person a set of restorative questions and listen to their response. Once everyone has responded to the restorative questions, transition into a more open model of discussion.

Restorative questions are a tool used to process an incident of wrongdoing or conflict….To help those affected:

• What did you think when you realized what had happened?
• What impact has this incident had on you and others?
• What has been the hardest thing for you?
• What do you think needs to happen to make things right?

Restorative approaches are all about building community and strengthening relationships. Restorative approaches are based on the idea that when we feel part of a supportive community, we respect others in that community and become accountable to it.

A workplace restorative practice process considers (1) the needs of the harmed parties, (2) the needs of the organization/workgroup (micro and macro communities), (3) and the obligations created by the harmer(s) to repair the harms and meet the current and future needs.