Restorative Justice for Juvenile Justice:

Stakeholders, Principles, Outcomes

Presented by:

Gordon Bazemore, Ph.D., Project Director, Balanced and Restorative Justice Project,

Community Justice Institute, Florida Atlantic University, Ft. Lauderdale, FL

WHAT IS JUSTICE?

-Justice as Punishment/Retribution?

-Justice as Treatment?

-Justice as Accountability and Responsibility!

Crime Is More Than Lawbreaking

Crime HARMS:

Victims,

Communities,

and Offenders.

It also damages relationships.

If crime is harm,

Justice should be healing.

THREE BASICS OF RESTORATIVE JUSTICE

-3 Stakeholders

-3 Principles

-3 Outcomes

REQUIREMENTS FOR SUCCESSFUL RE-ENTRY

RESISTANCE COMMUNITY TO RECEPTIVITY RECIDIVISM

DEGREE OF SUCCESS

Restorative Justice Stakeholders: Balancing Needs

Victim and family/support group

Offender and family/support group

Community

Juvenile Justice System

VICTIM NEEDS

WHAT VICTIMS REALLY WANT:

a less formal process where their views count;

more information about processing and outcome of

their case;

VICTIMS WANT:

to participate in their cases;

to be treated respectfully and fairly;

material and emotional restoration [especially an

apology];

“ Victims frequently want longer time for offenders because we

haven’t given them anything else. Or because we don’t ask, we don’t

know what they want. So [the system] gives them door Number

One or Two, when what they really want is behind Door Number 3 or

4.” ~ Mary Achilles

RJ: FOR THE PERSON HARMED

A CHOICE IN HOW THEY WANT TO PROCEED

AN OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK OUT ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM

AN OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE A VOICE IN HOW TO RIGHT ANY WRONGS DONE TO THEM

A WAY TO FEEL SOME POWER OR SAFETY OR REASSURANCE

OFFENDER NEEDS:

Young offenders need:

The opportunity to take responsibility for the harm

caused by their behavior; take action to repair the harm; have a voice in the decisionmaking

process;

OFFENDERS NEED:

Opportunities and support for reintegration to their

communities;

To build a range of assets, skills and pro-social

relationships.

FOR THE PERSONDOING HARM

A CHANCE TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR ACTIONS

AN OPPORTUNITY TO RIGHT THEIR WRONGS

A CHANCE TO BE PART OF THE SOLUTION, NOT JUST THE PROBLEM

THE POSSIBILITY TO LEARN FROM WHAT HAPPENED

AN OPPORTUNITY TO DEVELOP EMPATHY AND UNDERSTAND IMPACT OF THEIR BEHAVIOR

AN OPPORTUNITY TO GET ASSISTANCE TO ALTER OR CHANGE HARMFUL BEHAVIOR

COMMUNITY NEEDS

(Formal justice system procedures) “deprive people of opportunities to practice skills of apology and forgiveness, or reconciliation, restitution, and reparation . . . The modern state appears to have deprived civil society of opportunities to learn important political and social skills.

~ David Moore

FOR THE COMMUNITY

A MEANS TO HANDLE PROBLEMS THAT OTHERWISE AREN’T DEALT WITH—TOOLS, SKILLS, CONFIDENCE TO INTERVENE

ACKNOWLEDGES HARM DONE TO THE COMMUNITY

THE PERSON WHO COMMITTED HARM IS HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR ACTIONS TAKEN

EVERYONE IS KEY TO PARTICIPATING IN THE SOLUTION

Repairing Harm

Stakeholder Involvement

Community and Government Role Transformation

Three Principles of Restorative Justice?

Justice requires that we work to heal

victims, communities, and

offenders who have been injured by

crime.

Principle 1 - REPAIR

Repairing Harm

Two Primary Objectives:

1. Making Amends: Meeting Victim Needs; Creating a New Image for Offender; Enhancing Reciprocity

2. Building Relationships: Reconnecting with Prosocial Adults and Peers

Possible Obligations Required in

an RJ Conference or Reparative

Court Order:

Core Practices: Restorative Obligations or Sanctions

Apologize to Victims and Others

Make restitution to victims

Provide restorative community service

Participate in victim awareness activities

Other

Reconnecting…Crime weakens

relationships

Restorative justice reconnects

Victim

Victim

Com

munity

OffenderOffenderCommunity

Victims, communities and offenders should have

opportunities for active involvement in the justice

process as early and as

fully as possible.

Principle 2 - Involvement

THREE RJ PRINCIPLES

Stakeholder Involvement

Three Primary Objectives:

-“Respectful Disapproval”: Condemn offender’s action while supporting the offender.

-“Healing Dialogue”: Needs-driven victim, offender, supporter discourse is more important than agreement.

Stakeholder Involvement

Three Primary Objectives, continued:

-“Common Ground”: Build on Points of Mutual Interest between V-O, V-C, O-C…collective healing

Finding Common Ground

Offender

Community

Victim

Nonadversarial Stakeholder

Decisionmaking:

Core Practices: Restorative Conferencing Models

Family Group Conferencing

Reparative or Accountability Boards

Sentencing and Peacemaking Circles

Victim Offender Dialogue (Mediation)

Community Conferencing

Merchant Accountability Boards

ELEMENTS of a RESTORATIVE CONFERENCE

VOLUNTARY HAVE TO ADMIT HARM WILLING TO PROBLEM SOLVE ANY PARTY CAN STOP AT ANY TIME CONDUCTED BY A TRAINED

FACILITATOR

RGC

Participants

Human servicesAnd/or

probation

Community Member

Victim

SchoolAdministrator/

LawEnforcement

Supporter

SupporterOffender

Facilitator

We must re-think the relative role and responsibilities of the

government and the community. Government is responsible for

preserving order. The community is responsible for establishing peace.

Principle 3 – Changing Community/ System Roles &

Relationships

Justice system operates separately from the

community

Justice system provides more information to the

community about its activities.

Justice system provides information to the community

about its activities and asks for information from the

community.

Justice system asks for guidance from the community,

recognizes a need for community help, and places

more activities in the community.

Justice system follows community leadership.

Community & The Justice System: Changing The Relationship

Community/System Role Transformation

Three Primary Objectives:

-Build “Social Capital”: Relationships and networks of trust and reciprocity—connections

-Create Sense of Collective Ownership of Problem or Conflict

-Develop Problem Solving Skills—Conflict resolution, informal social control, support; members of safe communities “don’t mind own business”

THREE GOALS: A BALANCED MISSION

Com

munity

Pro

tect

ion

AccountabilityCom

petency D

evelopmen

t

NOT “taking the punishment” or obeying the rules.

Taking responsibility for, & action to making amends to victim and

victimized community;

Victim, youth, family and community in active roles in this process.

Restorative Accountability

OUTCOMES of ACCOUNTABITY AGREEMENT: Restitution Community service Apologies Address victim and community concerns

Restorative Accountability

NOT absence of negative behavior (e.g., crime, drug use) or completion of treatment or remedial program.

But, capacity to do something well that others value..

Competency Development

COMPETENCY DEVELOPMENT OUTCOMES: demonstrated improvements in; educational, vocational, social, civic, and other competencies that increase youth capacity to function as capable, productive adults.

Competency Development

NOT building more locked facilities or creating and enforcing rules.

But increase in capacity of community groups to prevent crime, resolve conflict, exercise

guardianship, reduce community fear, define tolerance limits and exercise informal social

control.

Community Safety

COMMUNITY SAFETY OUTCOMES: demonstrated improvements in:

-Recidivism reduction;-Skills of guardianship; -Collective Efficacy, Informal Social Control;-Mutual support for youth and families-Skills of conflict resolution and reparation

Community Safety Goals

Why it Works

Grounded Community Theory: Neighborhood Accountability Boards

•“We aren’t getting paid to do this.”

•“We can exercise the authority that parents have lost.”

•“We live in their community.”

•“We give them input into the contract.”

•“We are a group of adult neighbors who care about them.”

•“They hear about the harm from real human beings – us and the victims.”

•“We follow up.”

“So we make mistakes – can you say – you (the current system) don’t make mistakes? If you don’t think you do, walk through our community, every family will have something to teach you…By getting involved, by all of us taking responsibility, it is not that we won’t make mistakes…

But we would be doing it together, as a community instead of having it done for us. We need to find peace within our lives…in our communities. We need to make real differences in the way people act and the way we treat others…Only if we empower them and support them can they break out of this trap…”

~ Rose Couch, Community Justice Coordinator, Whitehorse,

Yukon