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The Restorative Justice Guide, 2nd Edition Juvenile Detention Center 18th Judicial Circuit Court DuPage County, IL 1 . WHAT IS RESTORATIVE JUSTICE? In the dictionary, restore means to bring back to a former or original condition or to give back: return. This is different from retribution, which means a suitable return, esp. punishment, for what one has done. Our current criminal justice system is based on a retribution system. Restorative Justice seeks to identify crime as a break in relationships: to self, to family, to neighborhood, to community, and to the nation and society in general. Instead of retribution, Restorative Justice seeks to restore those relationships which have been broken due to crime or other inappropriate behaviors. There is a lot of restoration going on in our society and community. For example, certain old buildings, which have been determined to have historical or artistic value, are protected. The owners may not tear them down. Instead they are encouraged to fix them up and bring them back to their original condition. While some have said that we live in a throw away society (What does that mean to you?), some things are too valuable to just throw away. A very valuable American Girl doll or 1956 T-bird certainly are worth making new again! Even if you just casually channel surf on TV, you will find shows that focus on restoring things, or bringing them back to their original condition. HGTV, TLC, The Discovery Channel and PBS have shows like “This Old House”, “While You Were Out,” “Trading Spaces,” and “Pimp My Ride” which focus on fixing rooms, furniture, buildings, and cars. There are even shows that make over people, by improving their choice in hair style, clothing, etc. Have you ever restored something? Fixed it up, brought it back to where it was? Please describe below. Restorative Justice (RJ) ideas and practices have come from different places, societies, and movements. When did RJ begin? Actually, the roots of RJ go back about 25 years. RJ started when communities began to take an interest in involving victims, offenders and communities in responding to crime. A big push for RJ came from the Civil Rights Movement, and focus on injustices in the justice system based on race. Others looked at practices done by native peoples in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. In these societies, people are much more involved in the justice system, rather than relying on a few persons in a distant courtroom. The Women’s movement, which began in the 1970’s, contributed also to the development of RJ. Concern for violence against women, and mistreatment of victims in the justice process flowed from this movement. Certain movements in other countries to abolish prisons, and religious denominations focusing on peace, such as the Quakers and Mennonites have also moved to create awareness of Restorative Justice. The Restorative Justice Guide, 2nd Edition Page 3 One basic way that RJ and western-retributive justice differ is in how they see crime. A noted expert in RJ, Howard Zehr, notes that crime seen in the light of retributive justice “is a violation of the state, defined by lawbreaking and guilt. Justice determines blame and administers consequences in a contest between the offender and the state directed by systematic rules.” RJ, however, holds that “Crime is a violation of people and relationships. It creates obligations to make things right. Justice involves the victim, the offender, and the community in a search for solutions which promote repair, reconciliation [sort of like making up], and reassurance.” Our system of justice, which focuses on retribution or punishment, especially through prison time, is fairly recent in history. It assumes that consequences by themselves will make things right. In contrast, RJ seeks to repair the harm done, build skills for the offender (competency development) so that the offender stops harming others, and to hold the offender accountable (more on accountability later). Restorative justice does not focus on punishment and sees imprisonment or incarceration as a last resort. Usually competency means being qualified or able to perform something. It usually involves knowing some things (knowledge) and being able to do some things (skills). Since RJ seeks to build “competency” in offenders, what do you think offenders need to know and do (knowledge and skills) to stop committing crimes and hurting themselves and others? What do you need to know and to do so that you won’t make bad decisions which end up hurting yourself and others? “Incarceration by itself may be considered a relatively easy sentence compared to the restorative justice approach that holds offenders directly accountable to victims, confronts them with the personal harm they have caused, and requires that they make real amends to the victim and community.” (Minnesota . Department of Corrections website) What do you think is better: Just getting locked up for a time or learning some skills and making things right so that you can lead a more successful life? Restorative Justice focuses not only on the offender, which is what the current system tends to do, but also on the victim. Have you ever been a victim? The Restorative Justice Guide, 2nd Edition Page 4 What did it feel like for you to be a “victim?” What would you have liked to happen to you when you were the victim? That is, what would have helped? How should people in the system (police, state’s attorney, judge, etc.) have responded to you? The current retributive system of justice tends to focus on individual crimes. The focus is whether you are guilty or innocent regarding the specific crime for which you are charged. RJ system looks at the harmful behavior with a holistic (“see the big picture” ) view. RJ looks at “all the pieces.” RJ also tries to look at preventing crime in the future (remember that competency stuff?), not only by the current offender but by providing community resources so that one can learn how to live with others without hurting them, stealing from them, etc. Lastly, RJ also seeks to heal the broken relationships that have occurred. According to another restorative justice writer, Daniel Van Ness, there are five main goals of restorative justice. Restorative justice… 1. invites full participation agreement. 2. seeks to heal what is broken. 3. seeks full and direct accountability. 4. seeks to reunite what has been divide. 5. seeks to strengthen the community in order to prevent further harms. In the next section, the questions focus on helping you understand these five main goals. What do you think full participation and agreement means in terms of criminal justice? How does that differ from what happens now? (Think of judge, jury, attorneys vs. looking at harm to the community) The Restorative Justice Guide, 2nd Edition Page 5 Is this involvement of the community a “good thing?” Why or why not? What does “heal what is broken” mean? What has been broken when people commit crimes? Full accountability means owning up to what has been done, apologizing and fixing the relationships. Why is this difficult in the current system? How does it affect your rights against self-incrimination? THINK CAREFULLY ABOUT THIS ONE. What has been divided that needs to be reunited? How can the community prevent harmful and hurtful behavior? What do you think is meant by community? The Restorative Justice Guide, 2nd Edition Page 6 2. RESTORATIVE JUSTICE PRACTICES Restorative justice is practiced in various ways. Let’s look at some of them. 2a. Victim-Offender Mediation Also known VOM, this practice arose from Mennonite (A Christian religious denomination) principles of dialogue and verbal exchange. After sentencing for a crime, the Mennonites would bring the offender and the victim(s) together, along with a professional facilitator, to negotiate restitution for the harm done. Both parties must be willing to participate for a VOM to occur. Those that have participated in this process have a significantly higher satisfaction rate than those who participated in the regular court process. A study also found that offenders who participated in this process were less likely to re-offend. Why do you think that those who participated in a VOM felt better than just going to court? Would you like to participate in a VOM? As offender? As victim? Do you think that attending a VOM will be helpful to you in the long run? What might be some fears you would have in attending a VOM? What might be some fears the victim might have? The Restorative Justice Guide, 2nd Edition Page 7 Why do you think offenders who participated in a VOM were less likely to commit crime again? 2b. Family Group Counseling This practice is based on the practices of the native people of New Zealand, called the Maori. In Family Group Conferencing, or FGC for short, when an offense is committed, the offending youth, the offender’s family and whomever the family invites, the victim(s) or their chosen representative, people supporting the victim(s), a police representative, and a mediator get together and meet. The goal is to reach an agreeable plan about how to resolve the situation and deal with the offending youth. Of course, if the offender does not agree that the offense was committed, then the case goes to court. All parties meet in a circle and the following matters are discussed: 1. how the crime affected the victim(s), 2. the offense and the circumstances, 3. what needs to be done to repair the harm. Sometimes an apology is made. A proposal is made by the offender’s family as to how to repair the harm.

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