Restorative
Justice
The goal of
restorative justice is to bring healing to all the participants in the legal
action. Restorative justice seeks to empower and help bring victims and
offenders to closure and healing. Often, there is a component of healing for
the community as well. This is usually used in criminal law and juvenile practice but there is some
movement about expanding it into other areas of the law.
A tool of restorative justice is the conference where the victim, the
offender, family members, and others come together in a face to face meeting
and through communication, work toward a mutually satisfactory solution.
The movement has been around for over thirty years and is similar to
the circles conducted by indigenous peoples around the world. There are several groups,
some connected with the government and some as independent community groups.
The University of Minnesota School of Social Work has a Center
for Restorative Justice and Peace-making. You can also try www.restorativejustice.org
for more information. I got more Internet hits with restorative justice than
any other vector so there is plenty of information out there. The www.RestorativeJustice.org
site has links to forty other sites that cover many different aspects of
restorative justice all over the world. The UN is also doing work in the area
of restorative justice.
Many restorative justice projects are affiliated with churches. For
example, the Methodists project can be reached by emailing Tom Porter at tporter@justpeaceUMN.org
www.restorativejustice.org
Restorative Justice On Line, a function of Prison Justice Fellowship.
Excellent source of nonpartisan information. One of the most respected sites
because they work with all kinds of different factions.
www.restorativejustice.com
A site facilitated by Tom Cavanaugh. A Fort Collins, Colorado restorative
justice scholar. Tom Worked for the courts for twenty-eight years and quit
to work on restorative justice. He is now active in the community program
and is working toward a PhD in educational leadership, focus on restorative
justice.
www.tja.com.au/ Transformative
Justice Australia. David Brian Moore and John McDonald led this site that
works toward transformation of justice.
www.restorativejustice.org/nz
Restorative Justice Trust of New Zealand. Site has the entire text of the
New Zealand Practice Restorative Justice Manual.
www.fresno.edu/pacs/rjp/ Center
for Peacemaking and Conflict Studies Restorative Justice Project. The home
site of the Victim Offender Reconciliation Project (VORP). A Mennonite
Program.
Other
related links from the web:
www.ncjrs.org/victrest.htm
www.restorejustice.org
www.law.wisc.edu/FJR/restorative/default.htm
www.justicefellowship.org
has a step by step manual for establishing restorative justice programs in
your community.
www.rji.org
www.vorp.org
www.voma.org