Handbook of Restorative Justice

A Global Perspective

Dennis Sullivan, Larry Tifft, Dennis Sullivan, Larry Tifft

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2007
• ISBN:
  9781134260782
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Sociology
• Index: Social Sciences

Handbook of Restorative Justice is a collection of original, cutting-edge essays that offer an insightful and critical assessment of the theory, principles and practices of restorative justice around the globe. This much-awaited volume is a response to the cry of students, scholars and practitioners of restorative justice, for a comprehensive resource about a practice that is radically transforming the way the human community responds to loss, trauma and harm.

Its diverse essays not only explore the various methods of responding nonviolently to harms-done by persons, groups, global corporations and nation-states, but also examine the dimensions of restorative justice in relation to criminology, victimology, traumatology and feminist studies. In addition. They contain prescriptions for how communities might re-structure their family, school and workplace life according to restorative values.

This Handbook is an essential tool for every serious student of criminal, social and restorative justice.

Section I
Restorative justice processes and practices

There is a rich diversity of understandings about the nature of restorative justice (Johnstone 2004; Sullivan and Tifft 2005). The parameters of this diversity range from providing a more humane, participatory, inclusive, need-meeting, and effective response to state-defined crime to proposing a new way of thinking, not merely about the nature of ‘crime’ (harm) and how to respond to its aftermath, but how to organize social life more justly. That is, how to organize social life to better meet our individual and collective needs and therefore to decrease the prevalence of harm in our communities and societies.

Corresponding to this diversity of understandings, there is controversy concerning what constitutes a restorative justice response to harm. That is, what are the essential components of a response that would lead one to conclude that it constituted a restorative one? Addressing this question, Paul McCold points out that the United Nations has adopted a working definition providing a minimum requirement for such programs. A restorative justice response creates a process within which all those affected by a harm come together to collaboratively decide how to respond to its aftermath and its implications for the future.

Following this working definition, McCold believes that only three models of ‘restorative justice’ practice – mediation, conferencing, and circles – meet these criteria. In Chapter 1 he reviews the evolution of these three process models over the past thirty years and places their development in a global chronological context, leaving the history of aggregative restorative processes (e.g. truth and reconciliation commissions) (Section V) and the cultural and spiritual foundations for the development of these models (Section II).

Following McCold’s lead, we have organized the chapters in Section I to present detailed descriptions and analyses of these primary models. But, before discussing these models and the contributions of those who have written these chapters, we feel that it is necessary to more fully and explicitly describe the essential precepts that restorative justice response programs are built upon (Zehr and Mika 1998). The first precept is that when a harm or crime occurs, we should most centrally respond to the needs of the primary ‘victims,’ as they have been the persons most directly harmed. And yet, the family members of both those harmed and those who have harmed them, and members of the larger community, have been traumatized as well. A consequent second precept is that restorative processes should maximize the input and participation of these sets of persons in our search for healing, restoration, understanding, empathy, accountability, and prevention. A third precept is that the restorative justice process belongs to the community and that members of the communities affected should be involved in these justice processes and these processes should move beyond the individuals involved making a contribution to building and strengthening these communities. Restorative processes should not stop at addressing the present needs of all involved in this harm and its aftermath. They should act to address the social conditions that lead to harm and suffering, and as well, to safety and peace in these communities. A fourth precept is that the community, through this restorative process, has a responsibility to support victims’ needs for information, validation, vindication, restitution, safety and empowerment – offering victims an opportunity to meet face to face with those who have harmed them and to collaborate in a dialogue with them to decide what actions should be taken to meet everyone’s needs. Correspondingly, the community has a responsibility to provide an opportunity for those who have harmed others to tell their stories, to listen to the stories, the pain, and the life effects that this harm has led those they have harmed to suffer, and to participate in constructing a creative response to all the different issues raised in these processes. Furthermore, not only do those who have offended need to be treated respectfully and supported as persons, they need to be offered an opportunity to acknowledge their actions, to take responsibility for making things right, and to meet the challenge of undertaking personal change.

From these restorative justice precepts we can more clearly assess the degree to which ever-changing, differing modes of restorative justice processes are working toward embodying a full and extensive set of restorative justice components. The order of presentation of chapters in this section thus moves from an exploration of those models that are least extensively restorative to those that most fully embody our extensive definition of restorative justice principles. Hence, the order of chapters in this section moves from the consideration of various modes of mediation to modes of conferencing, and concludes with an assessment of circles.

Mark Umbreit, Robert Coates, and Betty Voss (Chapter 2) review the changes that have over time altered the scope of victim offender mediation processes in the United States. These processes have in name evolved from Victim Offender Reconciliation to Victim Offender Mediation to Victim Offender Conferencing, reflecting a shift from an emphasis on mediated settlements to dialogic conferring about the harm or conflict and how a resolution might be created and carried out by those involved, rather than by professionals or officials. The name changes also reflect the broadened scope of participation in the mediation process to include support persons (communities of care) and persons from the communities affected. Further, these name changes reflect use of mediation for a greater diversity of types of harms or crimes. Such changes appear to provide richer opportunities for those who have harmed others to see the ripple effects of their actions and for members of the communities affected to become more actively involved in helping ‘offenders’ to alter their behaviors and lives. They, as well, allow those who have been harmed and their supporters a greater opportunity to share their stories and suffering and place their experiences in a more understandable context.

Christian Pelikan and Thomas Trenczek (Chapter 3) extend this discussion on the evolution and implementation of mediation to Europe, where Victim Offender Mediation has become the most important model or practice of restorative justice. Here, the mediation model is spreading rapidly though unevenly, is marked by competing visions and a wide variety of practices, and is being implemented at different stages within the criminal justice system process, though most often as a diversionary process. And while mediation has met with considerable political resistance, it has been enshrined in legislation in many nations though its implementation is in its initial developmental stages.

Pelikan and Trenczek present the history of the development of Victim Offender Mediation processes among Europe’s different nations and discuss how its development has been affected by two most recent Pan-European documents. Exemplary sketches of national developments are given for Albania, Austria, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Finland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Slovenia, and England and Wales. One of the most interesting comparisons given is between the community volunteer mediation scheme developed in Norway and the professional mediator scheme developed in Austria. Mediation in Norway is part of a program of community-based conflict resolution, where community action and self-help is vibrant. Here, volunteer work is seen as an expression of reliance on community and its potential. When harms occur and the conflict is referred to mediation services, people seem to be excited not to be confronted by professionals taking over; they are pleased to work with volunteers. In contrast, in Austria, where there is little sense of community or community trust, there is concomitantly a strong reliance on highly trained professional mediators who mediate far more serious harms than those coming to the community mediation services in Norway.

In Chapter 4 Gabrielle Maxwell, Allison Morris, and Hennessey Hayes describe restorative justice conferencing for juveniles with a particular focus on New Zealand and Australia. They also assess the extent to which conferencing reflects restorative justice values and results in restorative outcomes citing research chiefly drawn from Australasia and North America. Family Group Conferences were introduced in the New Zealand youth justice system in 1989 and since have been legislated for juvenile offenders in New Zealand, Australia, England and Wales, Canada, Ireland, and Singapore. Furthermore, differing versions of conferencing for young offenders have been introduced in nations as diverse as Belgium, Japan, the Netherlands, South Africa, Sweden, and the United States. Whatever the version, conferences are organized to engage all participants in collaboratively creating, a response to the harm caused by an offence and attempting to begin a process of healing or restoration in the relationships that have been harmed.

The reviewed research suggests that those who have been harmed who attend conferences often gain a better understanding of the reasons why they were harmed, often receive some kind of repair for the harmdone (apology, reparation), are generally very satisfied with the negotiated agreements, and feel more safe. It also suggests that the quality of the conferencing experiences also has a positive impact on youthful ‘offenders.’ If years later the conference was viewed as a memorable experience, if it was seen as fair and not stigmatizing, if ‘offenders’ felt that they had had a say in, accepted, and complied with the agreements, and if they felt that they had had a chance to apologize to the person(s) they had harmed, the conference experience appears to make an important contribution to preventing further offending.

Importantly, however, participating in a conference is only one of the many life experiences that are involved in desistence from harm and crime or alternately in continuing one’s involvement. No matter the quality of a conference and its psychological impact, a brief conference holds relatively little potential to alter or change the social conditions or circumstances of one’s life. So, unless the conference agreement reaches out into the community and changes an ‘offender’s’ access to resources or opportunities that have not been available to him/her and others in his/her community circumstances, even the best of all possible conferences is not likely to have a dramatic impact on the prevalence of harm and crime in a community. And, unfortunately, few conference programs make such life context extensions out into the community. They are, rather, more commonly individual interventions seeking to reduce the incidence of re-offending or recidivism.

In Chapter 5 James Bonta, Rebecca Jesseman, Tanya Rugge, and Robert Cormier provide us with an assessment of restorative justice processing and its impact on recidivism in comparison to the effects of deterrence and rehabilitation on recidivism. Their review of the effects of deterrent sanctions indicate that such sanctions have little impact on recidivism. And their review of the effects of treatment programs indicates that when treatment programs adhere to the principles of risk, need, and responsivity, they can have a significant impact on recidivism, especially if these appropriate treatments are administered in the community. Finally, their meta-analysis of the impact of restorative justice programs on recidivism indicates that such programs have a modest impact. However, there is a clear indication that the more recent programs that are more extensively restorative – those that attempt to involve victims and community members in a collaborative manner – produce larger effect size estimates of recidivism reduction.

This takes us to the reflections of Barry Stuart and Kay Pranis on peacemaking circles (Chapter 6). Peacemaking circles have greatly evolved from their initial 1982 construction as sentencing circles in Yukon. They draw heavily from the culturally steeped processes of First Nation circles and from the contemporary concepts of dialogue and consensus building, and are no longer centrally focused upon collaborative sentence construction. Peacemaking circles are flexible, continuing processes that may take on many differing circle forms such as healing, talking, and problem-solving in the process of making peace. As circles dig more deeply into the underlying ‘causes’ of conflict, the circle’s flexibility enables new issues to be addressed, issues that often are far larger than the issues involved in an individual harm.

Peacemaking circles share many component features with other restorative modes, such as providing for the active participation of those most affected by a crime in resolving the incident, focusing on healing and repair, and respecting the dignity and worth of all persons. They also have unique features such as encouraging the full expression of emotions and deep listening so that deep truth-telling occurs. Circles feature thoughtful reflection and an unrushed pace; the use of keepers rather than facilitators; individual and collective responsibility for harm; and a concern for prevention as well as intervention. Peacemaking circles are most concerned with the development of understanding, respect and empowerment, and forging new relationships among the many participants.

To illustrate the heart and soul of the circle model, consider the following illustration. In a circle that was initiated to address domestic violence, the ‘offender’ refused to fully participate in the circle and failed to honor his commitment to the consensus-based sentence reached. However, the circle dialogue produced a remarkable change in c...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• List of Illustrations
• Acknowledgements
• Author biographical sketches
• Introduction: The healing dimension of restorative justice A one-world body
• Section I Restorative justice processes and practices
• Section II The foundations of restorative justice
• Section III The needs of victims and the healing process
• Section IV Making things right Extending restorative justice
• Section V Gross human rights violations and transitional justice
• Section VI Critical commentaries on restorative justice
• Section VII Transformative justice and structural change
• Index