Conceptual Clarity and its Impact on RJ Policies

Source: (2008) Report of the fifth conference of the European Forum for Restorative Justice, Building restorative justice in Europe: cooperation between the public, policy makers, practitioners and researchers, Verona.

This workshop showed how different concepts and models of intervention are easily confused by policy makers and practitioners. We will argue that confusion between Restorative Justice and Mediation is commonplace and can have unjust and inappropriate results. We are concerned to make sure both Restorative Practitioners and Mediators are clear about the purpose of their intervention in situations which involve conflict. Many practitioners still consider the terms “restorative justice” and “mediation” to be synonymous or interchangeable. In this workshop, we will argue that there are good theoretical and practical reasons to question this assumption, and that a clear understanding of the differences between Restorative Justice and Mediation is essential for those who are evaluating, funding or commissioning work in this field. Above all, clarity is critical for practitioners, as confusion between the two processes could potentially harm those with whom they are working. This is particularly important in schools where children and young people can be involved both as participants in the process and as facilitators (i.e. peer mediators). (excerpt)