Healing Participation Revenge Accountability Punishment Separation

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2 What is restorative justice? What do you think is meant by the phrase, restorative justice? Break the phrase down into its component words, if that s helpful. The following is a list of qualities or principles. Jot down the ones you think belong to restorative justice. Healing Participation Revenge Accountability Punishment Separation Reintegration Sentencing Encounter Confrontations Repair Imprisonment

3 What is Restorative Justice? Restorative justice is a response to crime that focuses on restoring the losses suffered by victims, holding offenders accountable for the harm they have caused, and building peace within communities. It is a different way of thinking about crime and our response to crime. It focuses on the harm caused by crime: repairing the harm done to victims and reducing future harm by preventing crime. It is achieved through a co-operative effort by both government and the communities. It requires offenders to take responsibility for their actions and for the crime that they have caused. Restorative justice can only take place when: an offender admits guilt, accepts responsibility for his or her actions and agrees to participate in the program; the victim of the crime freely agrees to participate in the program, without feeling pressured to do so; and trained facilitators are available in the community and a restorative justice program is in place.

4 Benefits of Restorative Justice It views criminal acts more comprehensively: rather than defining crime only as lawbreaking, it recognizes that offenders harm victims. It involves more parties: rather than giving key roles to government and offender it involves the victim and community. It measures success differently: rather than measuring how much punishment has been inflicted it measures how much harm has been repaired or prevented. It recognizes the importance of community involvement and initiative rather than leaving the problem of crime alone to the government.

5 How Crime is Seen Traditional System of Justice Crime is defined as a violation of rules, and a harm to the State Restorative Justice Crime is seen as a harm done to victims and communities Victim & Their Role in the Process Victim is inhibited from speaking about his/her real losses and needs Victim is central to the process of defining the harm and how it might be paired Role of Community Community s role is limited Community is actively involved in holding offenders accountable, supporting victims and ensuring opportunities for offenders to make amends Offender & Aftermath Offender is blamed, stigmatized and punished The long term protection of the public mandates a focus on the methods of problem solving that include the reintegration of the offender into the community and the preservation of his/her dignity

6 Closure Good restorative justice programs have well-trained facilitators who are sensitive to the needs of victims and offenders, who know the community in which the crime took place and who understand the dynamics of the criminal justice system. All restorative justice programs have some common elements. They seek healing, forgiveness and active community involvement. The goal is to "restore" the relationship, fix the damage that has been done and prevent further crimes from occurring. The programs can take place at different times after a crime has occurred - sometimes after charges have been laid; sometimes after an accused has been found guilty of an offence.

7 Programs Included in Restorative Justice Victim Offender Mediation VOM s involve a meeting between the victim and offender facilitated by a trained mediator. With the assistance of the mediator, the victim and offender begin to resolve the conflict and to construct their own approach to achieving justice in the face of their particular crime. Conferencing - Conferencing programs are similar to the victimoffender mediation program, in that they involve the victim and offender in an extended conversation about the crime and its consequences. However, Conferencing programs also include the participation of families, community support groups, police, social welfare officials and attorneys in addition to the victim and offender Sentencing Circles notes to follow Community Service - community service is used to repair the harm done to the community. Community service provides an opportunity for the offender to see first-hand the indirect injuries caused by his/her offense.

8 The 4 Values of Restorative Justice Encounter - Create opportunities for victims, offenders and community members who want to do so to meet to discuss the crime and its aftermath Amends - Expect offenders to take steps to repair the harm they have caused. Restorative justice requires wrongdoers to recognize the harm they have caused, to accept responsibility for their actions and to be actively involved in improving the situation. Wrongdoers must make reparation to victims, themselves and the community. Reintegration - Seek to restore victims and offenders as whole, contributing members of society. Inclusion - Provide opportunities for parties involved in a specific crime to participate in its resolution.

9 Sources All information provided in this Powerpoint can be found at: