Circles: Healing through restorative justice
April 18, 2014
Restorative Justice (RJ) seeks to cultivate both peacemaking and healing by facilitating meaningful dialogue. Practiced through conversation circles, whose norms include “listen with respect†and “speak from the heart,†RJ provides contexts for sharing feelings and...
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Restorative justice for everyone: An innovative program and case study from Turners Falls High School in Massachusetts
April 17, 2014
Turners Falls High School began a program this year where every student who is referred out of class meets with a teacher trained in restorative practices. After a conference the student is asked to fill out a “Ticket Out†which asks the traditional restorative questions: What...
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Victim participation in transitional justice mechanisms: Real power or empty ritual?
April 12, 2014
Without doubt, victim participation has changed the way that policymakers and practitioners conceive of TJ. In its absence it is assumed that TJ will be detached from affected communities, will face difficulties in generating local ownership and grassroots impact, and will fail to address the...
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Subsidised training programme: Victims’ voices and restorative justice in the new EC Directive
April 12, 2014
What: TrainingWhen: Various in April, May, June and JulyWhere: VariousContact: IARS The training programme is based on the findings of extensive research on existing evidence in the 5 RJE participating countries. This involved desk research and fieldwork with victims, offenders and...
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Restorative justice offers a way for peace to come from tragedy
April 11, 2014
… John Caspell’s family went through the restorative justice process almost two years after his death. Caspell was riding his motorcycle when he was struck by a car at the intersection of Government and Bay Streets on April 26, 2009. The 57-year-old had surgery on a badly...
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Martin Wright reviews Forging Justice: A Restorative Justice Mystery
April 10, 2014
Forging justice: A restorative justice mystery. Margaret Murray. Pipersville, PA: Piper’s Press, 2013. 231 pp.ISBN-13: 978-1-934355-26-8 The story mainly follows the case of one teenage girl gang who rob a convenience store. Using her usual police methods, things...
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Defending restorative discipline
April 9, 2014
A year later, a dramatic turn around occurred, and Cole Middle School was awarded the outstanding safe school award for all schools in the state of Colorado by Project Pave, a violence prevention organization in Colorado. Student suspensions had been cut in half, and police citations...
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St. Louis program helps police and public smooth over minor conflicts
April 7, 2014
In a sense, it’s a grown-up version of settling fights on the school playground. “The main goal is to improve the relationship between the community and our policemen,†said Gardner, who decides which complaints go to mediation. “It brings people to the table.â€...
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Rwanda genocide survivors back reconciliation
April 6, 2014
Neighbors murdered their neighbors. Frederic Kazigwemo has, for example, killed several people. He said he was jailed for more than nine years. After his release he got a small piece of land and a house in Mbyo. The genocide did not only take human lives, it destroyed the livelihoods of many...
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Restoring hope
April 3, 2014
New Zealand has a severe criminal recidivism problem, particularly among Maori, and traditional methods of justice are struggling to make a difference. As an alternative model, restorative justice can be controversial, with some seeing it as offering offenders an easy way out, an...
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Nelson Police Department rolls out innovative restorative justice program
April 3, 2014
The program, spearheaded by NPD Sergeant Dino Falcone and coordinated by Restorative Justice Program Coordinator Gerry Sobie, is looking for volunteers. Sobie helped establish and run the Cranbrook RCMP Restorative Justice Program, from 2005 to 2009. “As the Department’s Community...
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Restorative justice element needed in sacrament of penance
April 2, 2014
Referring to the practice introduced by the Irish monks from the 7th century on, Mgr Hugh Connolly said that in those times there was a very strong sense that those going to confession should do something to undo some of the harm they had done. “If we are sorry,†he said,...
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Experiencing the Sycamore Tree course
April 1, 2014
The first week, there was a lot of defensive behavior from the women. Many of the women were reluctant to share information. There was a woman with a confident attitude and a sturdy walk. She seemed really approachable. She interacted well with the group, listened attentively to the teaching...
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Reconciliation: A new generation of aboriginal Canadians weighs in
March 31, 2014
How have you been affected by the legacy of residential schools? My mother being a survivor and through the hardship that she’s encountered, I definitely carry a pain that she carries without the action being me … but in saying that she has also given me a strength to...
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Can restorative justice improve prison statistics for African Americans?
March 28, 2014
Looking at Darryl’s story, one might conclude that the future does not bode well for him. In fact, we probably would not be surprised if we were to learn later on that he was in prison. However, there is much more to his story, and a great deal that we can learn from it. The...
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