Restorative Justice
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Restorative Justice |
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Articles written by Jim Consedine Is there are Place for Forgiveness in Restorative Justice? RESTORATIVE JUSTICE - A LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS Christian Morality, Restorative Justice and the Law A HARSH REALITY - A MERCIFUL RESPONSE Forgiveness in Public Policy II RESTORATIVE JUSTICE – CREATIVE PEACEMAKING Conducting a restorative justice
conference
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Jim_Consedine has written some articles which explain the benefits, the philosophy and the process of Restorative Justice Restorative Justice is an alternative to the retributive justice that forms much of the basis of the criminal justice system. It is a voluntary alternative, where the victim and the offender participate in a restorative justice conference What is the basis of Restorative Justice? Restorative Justice is based on morality, justice and the common good. The article "Christian Morality, Restorative Justice and the Law" demonstrates this from a biblical perspective Restorative Justice - how and why
does it work?
My own experience of restorative justice and other justice. As a young child I had learned how to deal with wrongdoing. I had learned that a spanking, or being punished would be the result if I did something wrong. I would be "told off" and sent to my room. As a result of my training I avoided doing "wrong" things that I could get caught out for . I took a long time to mature. At the age of 35 years I was still judging people and their actions as wrong or right. I was not seeing the other side of the story. I was unaware that relationship is destroyed by the judgmental attitude that I had. I also saw that other people seemed to be having fun in relationship with each other, and I kept wondering why I was missing out! Then I eventually had a woman come into my life, and looking back on how I was, I realize that I was certainly not ready for a relationship. It was OK at first, but then some things she did, I thought were wrong. I told her so, yet she was not always willing to "correct" her behavior. I felt powerless, and helpless to do anything about the situation. She would then become angry, and often I hit her. Fortunately I did get some counseling, and the violence did not continue to escalate so much. Yet the relationship was not working, and I went for help many times. Some "help" only made matters worse, as the person attempting to assist would agree with me that the other person was in the wrong, yet nothing was resolved. Fortunately, some other resources were much more productive. They would focus on producing workable outcomes. They would sometimes even be wise enough to point out that I was acting as a victim, thus setting the other person up as a persecutor. I have since observed similar interactions in other people's relationships. One thing I have noticed is just how much that retributive justice is ingrained in my own beliefs, and those of most of the community in which I live. It takes conscious effort for me to be willing to consider other alternatives. I expect that the same difficulty would be present for most of western "civilization". Some aspects of restorative justice include: Resolution Communication Ongoing support and/or the creation of support networks.
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Here are a couple of Restorative Justice websites you might like to explore. I'm sure there are a lot more around. Real Justice - A US private corporation doing Restorative Justice on a big scale - www.realjustice.org The NZ one is www.restorativejustice.org.nz
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My experience of restorative justice |
Conducting a restorative justice
conference A newspaper article Punishment doesn't pay: priest Also find much more by searching for restorative justice on http://google.com
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| The above is a sharing of my own personal experience. Your experience may well be different Please be responsible for your interaction with any persons or organizations mentioned on this site.
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