Restorative Justice and Protective Behaviours: a perfect match
September 17, 2009
It has been said that the greatest truths are the simplest and the PBs Process is based on two very simple truths or, as we call them, the two Themes: Theme One: We all have the right to feel safe all the timeTheme Two: There is nothing so awful or small that we can’t talk...
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Tagging and restorative justice
September 15, 2009
….The serial tagger has been sentenced to almost four years in prison. What will Yazdani be like when he is released? Most would agree that he’ll be more likely to re-offend. Those involved in this case (law enforcement, prosecutors, and judges) were probably very frustrated and...
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Snapshot of compassionate listening: Lorenn Walker & restorative justice
September 14, 2009
Before her days working with restorative justice, Lorenn was an Hawai’i state deputy attorney general, as well as general counsel for the state public welfare system (1984-94). In addition, she served as a family court representative for typically underserved cross-sections of the...
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Excellence in Education Award given for restorative practices
September 14, 2009
….The Restorative Practices Program features conflict-resolution circles as well as student counseling, mentoring, and staff support. Conflict-resolution circles, also known as Justice Circles, are formed among groups of students with a staff member and community leader present....
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Driver, after a terrible wrong, plans to work to make amends
September 14, 2009
Jack Alvord booked himself into a 30-day residential treatment center. He pushed his insurance company to settle with his victim for $1.25 million. Once he is out of prison, he has agreed to sit beside the man, Norman Larkin, and tell other drunken drivers what happened when he made the...
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Educating pupils on peace
September 14, 2009
The movement to bring dialogue into the classroom so it can be brought into another classroom more effectively took roughly the past ten years in response to a book by Daniel Goleman, Emotional Intelligence, that begged the question, “Why aren’t we bringing social and emotional...
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‘Talking stick’ helps facilitate restorative justice response to destructive behaviors
September 14, 2009
…. Little was said until the stick, actually a Native-American-made, beaded baton, was passed to Bonita Brice, 47, who had brought her two young grandchildren. Brice said her mother died when she was 4; she was passed among relatives and endured mistreatment (including once being made to...
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Servant leadership, restorative justice and forgiveness
September 13, 2009
I certainly believe that one needs to be humble in order to be a servant-leader, but I think that is but a single element in a plethora of attributes that is required. In “Insights on Leadershipâ€, Robert K. Greenleaf states, “… the care taken by the servant first to...
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Stepping toward restorative justice: Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission
September 13, 2009
With an entirely new set of commissioners, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission is ready, once again, to move toward its goals. These include acknowledging the lasting impacts of residential schools, providing a forum for survivors to share their stories and making that information...
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Amy Biehl, South Africa and restorative justice
September 13, 2009
….Amy Biehl was a dynamic, 26-year-old Stanford graduate and an esteemed human rights activist who worked tirelessly toward ensuring all South Africans regardless of race or gender assumed their rightful place in the emerging democratic nation. Just days before she was due home, Amy was...
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Life sentence in fatal impaired accident ‘small victory’ for Quebec family
September 11, 2009
Complicating the story, especially if you are not Canadian, is the issue of the categorization of offenders as “dangerous offenders”. Currently under Canadian law convicted drunk drivers are not listed as “dangerous offenders”, since that category is kept for...
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Treasures: Victims Voice, Safe Justice and Lemonade
September 8, 2009
The first is Safe Justice, whose purpose is “to empower, support and help victims to process and deal with issues arising from the Victim/Offender Trauma Bond they have developed with someone who has hurt them.” The premise is that if this is not done well, the relationship can...
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Three justice orientations (or two?)
September 8, 2009
In my comment on his blog I wrote: In 1970, John Griffiths wrote a response to Packer in which he said that the two models of crime control and due process were really a single model, which he called the battle model. To demonstrate that operating within the battle model limits our ability to...
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Ex-Vietnam lieutenant apologizes for My Lai massacre: opening doors for restorative justice?
September 3, 2009
Apart from the sentence, and the commutation of that sentence, Calley’s decision now to apology for his actions is something we must take note of. As a restorative justice practitioner it caught my attention in a big way. National Public Radio provides the details of his...
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