School’s disciplinary message: We want you here
June 25, 2012
Robinson and the school took a no-nonsense approach to restoring order. If students fought, they were suspended for five days. If they were five minutes late, they got detention. If they didn’t show, they were sent to Saturday school. No-shows to Saturday school were suspended. Last...
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Restorative justice backed by over 95% of crime victims
June 25, 2012
The survey quizzed a fifth of all the county’s crime victims who had used the restorative justice system. ….“Fifty-four people and three organisations were surveyed and, out of those, only three expressed any dissatisfaction with the whole experience of restorative justice....
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Rwanda: Kagame commends Gacaca courts
June 25, 2012
He commended the choice the Rwandan people for a homegrown solution where they revivified the community with a participatory justice, Gacaca. “We chose the more difficult course: to deal with the matter decisively and restore the unity and integrity of the nation. We turned to our...
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Restorative justice: A biblical view of justice
June 25, 2012
This statute shows how the practice of restorative justice was nuanced in order to encourage the practice of preventive justice. If the ox simply, without warning or provocation, killed a neighbor’s ox, the owner of the goring ox had to sell it and share the proceeds with the owner of...
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Littlehey inmates refurbish bicycles in ‘payback’ scheme
June 25, 2012
In May the Independent Monitoring Board expressed concern about a lack of “meaningful activity” for some inmates. Governor David Taylor said the scheme offered offenders both work and skills. Each year Cambridgeshire Police recover hundreds of stolen or abandoned bicycles. Those...
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About restorative justice and the need for more culture change
June 25, 2012
The Norwegian Nils Christie wrote about this in the 1970s in his article “Conflict as Property†where he observes that “victims of crime have … lost their right to participate … the … rights to their own conflictâ€, and his point is all about...
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Five act lesson cycle: Humor in the classroom
June 14, 2012
These two distinctions can be effectively implemented in the secondary classroom in a positive manner for both the students and the classroom teacher. Even retributive humor can be used effectively, even if it is of a self-deprecating nature regarding the classroom teacher. Yet, any humor, any...
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Restorative justice at OWS
June 12, 2012
In existing institutions the only way to deal with the manifestations of that violence and resulting hurt is by establishing bureaucracies which take the communal responsibility for healing, resolution and restitution away from those involved and structure a process of adjudication, a rational...
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Marin grand jury calls for more alternative justice programs
June 12, 2012
But after studying its use elsewhere — in places such as New Zealand, Brazil, Vermont and major California cities — the grand jury said its expanded use in Marin could save the taxpayers money, reduce recidivism and ease the burden on courts, the county jail and Juvenile Hall....
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Voluntary participation in restorative practices
June 12, 2012
Whether the face-to-face meeting is requested by the victim, the offender or the referring agency, each participant must at some point make the choice to come of their own free will. If the offender is incarcerated or otherwise involved in the justice system, he/she must still have the...
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Sweeping to say ‘I’m sorry’
June 7, 2012
“I felt very guilty afterwards and when the police spoke to me I knew I needed to be punished.” Dylan said he agreed to take part in the restorative justice scheme and said it had definitely put him off doing anything similar again. He said: “It’s been really hard work....
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Does restorative justice mean forgiveness?
June 5, 2012
It is very important that all crime victims feel they can explore restorative justice and find the value it provides them if they choose to participate. Experiencing restorative justice can mean participating in a victim offender dialogue but it can mean other things as well. Restitution...
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Henry’s story: Facing the music
June 4, 2012
At 14 I moved schools and it was soon after that when a friend pressured me into trying ketamin for the first time. It became my addiction. I left school with 1 GCSE. I left my family to live with a friend in a caravan. I thought I was alright because I was next to...
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Going Dutch: Can we follow the Netherlands and cut our prison population?
June 4, 2012
This trend is not restricted to Europe. US states like New York have seen their prison numbers decline since 2000. Although the causes remain contested, what is clear is that investing in drug treatment programmes for nonviolent offenders, rather than custody, contributed to the drop. More...
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Study: Zero tolerance policies may have negative health implications for students
June 4, 2012
The report, funded by the California Endowment and coordinated by Human Impact Partners (HIP), Community Asset Development Re-Defining Education (CADRE) and Restorative Justice Partners (RJP), examined three student populations in Los Angeles, Oakland and Salinas, California. It found that...
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