Restorative Justice: Rebuilding Our Communities One

Crime at a Time

The three questions of the CJS

•What law(s) have been broken?

•Who did it?•What do they deserve?

Criminal Justice System• Crime Violates:

– laws and the state• Creates:

–Guilt• Justice is:

– the state determines blame and imposes pain

• Central focus: –offender getting what they “deserve”

What is Restorative Justice?

When we wrong someone,

we have an obligation

to acknowledge the wrong/harm

and try to make it right.

Restorative Justice Questions

•Who has been hurt?•What are their needs?•Whose obligations are these?

Questions

CJS• What law(s) have been broken?• Who did it?• What do they deserve?

RJ• Who has been hurt?• What are their needs?• Whose obligations are these?

RJ Lenses CJS • Crime Violates:

People and relationships

• Creates: Obligations• Justice:

Stakeholders involved in determining responsibilities and repairing harm

• Central focus: Victims needs and Offenders responsibilities

• Crime Violates: laws and the state

• Creates: Guilt• Justice is: the state

determines blame and imposes pain

• Central focus: offender getting what they “deserve”

#1 TRAUMATIC EVENT(S)ACT(S) OF

AGGRESSION

#2 Physiological changes: Fight, flight or freeze response

hyper-arousal, constriction, dissociation, powerlessness

#3 Shock, injury, denial, anxiety, fear:

Need for safety

#6 Anger “Why me? Why us?”

Spiritual questions Need for meaning

#5 Suppression of grief and fears:Numbing, isolation

Need for re-connection

#7 Survivor Guilt, Feelings of shame and humiliation:

Need for honor and vindication

#8 Learned Helplessness:Need for empowerment

#7 Social and cultural pressures. Pride.

#6 Decision to pursue own needs,

even at the expense of others: egoism of victimization

#4 Dehumanization and demonization of

the enemy

#3 Development of good versus evil narrative

#2 Feeling shame/humiliation, hurt pride: increased

group identity

#5 Justification for using violence.

Seeing violence as redemptive

Enemy/AggressorCycle

#1 Victim Identity: seeing self/group as victimized

with unmet needs for safety, justice, etc.

Fear of harm/annihilation

#4 Realization of loss – panic

#8 Act of aggression in the name of self-

defense, justice and/orrestoring honor

#9 Re-experiencing events, intrusive thoughts; avoiding reminders; hypervigilence

#10 Fantasies of revengeNeed for justice and

vindication

Survivor/VictimCycle

©Conflict Transformation Program, Eastern Mennonite University, 2002

Sticky Message

Trauma not Transformed is

Transferred

What are their Needs?

•The Victim•The Offender •The Community

Whose Obligations?

•The Offender•The Community•The Victim?

Implications for Communities• Community is made from conflict as

much as it is cooperation: the capacity to resolve conflict is what gives social relationships their sinew. - Nils Christie

(Conflict is Property) • Social Capital• Community Mediation, Circles of

Support and Accountability

Conclusion Restorative justice asks us to

reevaluate the way we look at crime/harm and to recognize it as a violation of relationships. It is a reevaluation of the needs and roles of the victim, the offender and the community through dialog, to determine the harm done and what it is going to take to make things right.

Sherman and Strang 2007• Substantially reduced repeat offending for most

offenders, but not all;• Doubled (or more) the offences brought to justice as

diversion from CJ;• Reduced crime victims’ post-traumatic stress

symptoms and related costs;• Provided both victims and offenders with more

satisfaction with justice than CJ;• Reduced crime victims’ desire for violent revenge

against their offenders;• Reduced the costs of criminal justice, when used as

diversion from CJ;• Reduced recidivism more than prison (adults) or as

well as prison (youths).• www.smith-institute.org.uk/pdfs/RJ_full_report.pdf