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Guides for Restorative Justice

Restorative practices recognize that when a wrong occurs, individuals and communities feel violated. It is the damage to these relationships that is primarily important and is the central focus of what restorative practices seek to address. When relationships are strong, people experience more fulfilling lives, and communities become places where we want to live. Relationships may be mended through the willingness to be accountable for one’s actions and to make repair of harms done.

Respect is the key ingredient that holds the container for all restorative practices, and it is what keeps the process safe. It is essential that all persons in a restorative process be treated with respect. One way we acknowledge respect is that participation in a restorative process is always optional. Every person is expected to show respect for others and for themselves. Restorative processes require deep listening, done in a way that does not presume we know what the speaker is going to say, but that we honor the importance of the other’s point of view. Our focus for listening is to understand other people, so, even if we disagree with their thinking, we can be respectful and try hard to comprehend how it seems to them.

For restorative practices to be effective, personal responsibility must be taken. Each person needs to take responsibility for any harm that was caused to another, admitting any wrong that was done, even if it was unintentional. Taking responsibility also includes a willingness to give an explanation of the harmful behavior. All persons in the circle are asked to search deeply in their hearts and minds to discover if there is any part of the matter at hand for which they have some responsibility. Everyone needs to be willing to accept responsibility for his or her own behavior and the impacts it has on other individuals and the community as a whole.

The restorative approach is to repair the harm that was done, and the underlying causes, to the fullest extent possible, recognizing that harm may extend beyond anyone’s capacity for repair. Once the persons involved have accepted responsibility for their behavior and they have heard in the restorative process about how others were harmed by their action, they are expected to make repair. This allows us to set aside thoughts of revenge and punishment. It is essential that all stakeholders in the event be involved in identifying the harm and having a voice in how it will be repaired. It is through taking responsibility for one’s own behavior and making repair that persons may regain or strengthen their self-respect and the respect of others.

For the restorative process to be complete, persons who may have felt alienated must be accepted into the community. Reintegration is realized when all persons have put the hurt behind them and moved into a new role in the community. This new role recognizes their worth and the importance of the new learning that has been accomplished. The person having shown him or herself to be an honorable person through acceptance of responsibility and repair of harm has transformed the hurtful act. At the reintegration point, all parties are back in right relationship with each other and with the community. This reintegration process is the final step in achieving wholeness.

THE 5 R'S OF RESTORATIVE JUSTICE

Principles

All human beings have dignity and worth

a process that seeks primarily to address or repair the harm

caused by an incident or offense, and involves (to the extent possible), those who have a stake in a specific offense and to collectively identify and address harms, needs, and obligations.

RESTORATIVE JUSTICE

this term encompasses not only restorative justice, but also a range of other processes, including mediation, conflict resolution, problem-solving, circle-time, emotional literacy, active listening, and so on. To avoid confusion, this definition will only use the term ‘restorative justice’ when referring to processes that seek primarily to address or repair harm.

RESTORATIVE PRACTICE

GOALS & AIMS

Restorative Justice and Restorative Practices aim to:

Put decisions into the hands of those most affected by the offense
Make justice more healing, and ideally more transformative
Reduce the likelihood of future offenses

GOALS & ACHIEVEMENT

Achieving these goals include:

Those most affected (when there are identifiable affected parties who want to participate) are involved in the process and mostly come out of it satisfied with a sense of healing;
Person(s) who caused harm understand how their actions have affected others and take responsibility for those actions;
Outcomes help to repair the harms done and address the reasons for the offense (specific plans are tailored to the specific needs of both those who are most affected and those who caused harm);
Those most affected and those who caused harm both gain a sense of “closure” and both are reintegrated into the community.

VALUES

When an individual(s) commits an offense, the person(s) who caused harm incurs an obligation to individuals affected and the community.
Youth Competency Development. Those who cause harm and enter the juvenile justice system should be more capable when they leave than when they entered.
Community safety. Juvenile justice has a responsibility to protect the public from juveniles in the system.

GUIDING QUESTIONS

Who has been hurt?
What are their needs?
Whose obligations are these?
Who has a stake in this situation?
What is the appropriate process to involve stakeholders in an effort to put things right?
What is needed to repair the harms and address the underlying needs of the those who are most affected?
What is needed to address the needs of the person(s) who caused harm to prevent future harm?
What is the role of the larger community in repairing harms and addressing needs which promote safer communities?

Guides for Restorative Justice

THE 5 R'S OF RESTORATIVE JUSTICE

RESTORATIVE JUSTICE

RESTORATIVE PRACTICE

GOALS & AIMS

GOALS & ACHIEVEMENT

VALUES

GUIDING QUESTIONS

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