Restorative Justice: Rebuilding Our Communities One Crime at a Time.
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Transcript of Restorative Justice: Rebuilding Our Communities One Crime at a Time.
Restorative Justice: Rebuilding Our Communities One
Crime at a Time
The three questions of the CJS
•What law(s) have been broken?
•Who did it?•What do they deserve?
Criminal Justice System• Crime Violates:
– laws and the state• Creates:
–Guilt• Justice is:
– the state determines blame and imposes pain
• Central focus: –offender getting what they “deserve”
What is Restorative Justice?
When we wrong someone,
we have an obligation
to acknowledge the wrong/harm
and try to make it right.
Restorative Justice Questions
•Who has been hurt?•What are their needs?•Whose obligations are these?
Questions
CJS• What law(s) have been broken?• Who did it?• What do they deserve?
RJ• Who has been hurt?• What are their needs?• Whose obligations are these?
RJ Lenses CJS • Crime Violates:
People and relationships
• Creates: Obligations• Justice:
Stakeholders involved in determining responsibilities and repairing harm
• Central focus: Victims needs and Offenders responsibilities
• Crime Violates: laws and the state
• Creates: Guilt• Justice is: the state
determines blame and imposes pain
• Central focus: offender getting what they “deserve”
#1 TRAUMATIC EVENT(S)ACT(S) OF
AGGRESSION
#2 Physiological changes: Fight, flight or freeze response
hyper-arousal, constriction, dissociation, powerlessness
#3 Shock, injury, denial, anxiety, fear:
Need for safety
#6 Anger “Why me? Why us?”
Spiritual questions Need for meaning
#5 Suppression of grief and fears:Numbing, isolation
Need for re-connection
#7 Survivor Guilt, Feelings of shame and humiliation:
Need for honor and vindication
#8 Learned Helplessness:Need for empowerment
#7 Social and cultural pressures. Pride.
#6 Decision to pursue own needs,
even at the expense of others: egoism of victimization
#4 Dehumanization and demonization of
the enemy
#3 Development of good versus evil narrative
#2 Feeling shame/humiliation, hurt pride: increased
group identity
#5 Justification for using violence.
Seeing violence as redemptive
Enemy/AggressorCycle
#1 Victim Identity: seeing self/group as victimized
with unmet needs for safety, justice, etc.
Fear of harm/annihilation
#4 Realization of loss – panic
#8 Act of aggression in the name of self-
defense, justice and/orrestoring honor
#9 Re-experiencing events, intrusive thoughts; avoiding reminders; hypervigilence
#10 Fantasies of revengeNeed for justice and
vindication
Survivor/VictimCycle
©Conflict Transformation Program, Eastern Mennonite University, 2002
Sticky Message
Trauma not Transformed is
Transferred
What are their Needs?
•The Victim•The Offender •The Community
Whose Obligations?
•The Offender•The Community•The Victim?
Implications for Communities• Community is made from conflict as
much as it is cooperation: the capacity to resolve conflict is what gives social relationships their sinew. - Nils Christie
(Conflict is Property) • Social Capital• Community Mediation, Circles of
Support and Accountability
Conclusion Restorative justice asks us to
reevaluate the way we look at crime/harm and to recognize it as a violation of relationships. It is a reevaluation of the needs and roles of the victim, the offender and the community through dialog, to determine the harm done and what it is going to take to make things right.
Sherman and Strang 2007• Substantially reduced repeat offending for most
offenders, but not all;• Doubled (or more) the offences brought to justice as
diversion from CJ;• Reduced crime victims’ post-traumatic stress
symptoms and related costs;• Provided both victims and offenders with more
satisfaction with justice than CJ;• Reduced crime victims’ desire for violent revenge
against their offenders;• Reduced the costs of criminal justice, when used as
diversion from CJ;• Reduced recidivism more than prison (adults) or as
well as prison (youths).• www.smith-institute.org.uk/pdfs/RJ_full_report.pdf