DAY 2

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10

Video Festival

SIX CONFERENCES: A COMPOSITE VIEW OF CONFERENCING IN PROGRAMS FOR TROUBLED YOUTH
Produced by Real Justice, 75 min
By combining footage of actual Real Justice conferences for offences ranging from truancy and leaving school grounds to theft and bringing a knife onto a school bus, this video provides a realistic view of conferencing. Some conferences are emotional, others are not. Some conferences produce satisfying outcomes and occasionally one falls apart. But even an 'unsuccessful' conference, as the follow-up interviews show, can produce meaningful outcomes. All six conferences were videotaped, with the permission of participants, at group homes or schools operated by the Community Service Foundation in southeastern Pennsylvania, USA.

Restorative Practices and Delinquency Prevention through Truancy Remediation
Jay Henry & Donna Jones
The city of Philadelphia (USA) Department of Human Services Office of Truancy and Delinquency Prevention (DHS-OTP) has begun a process of instituting restorative practices at one of the first signs of pre-delinquent behaviour—truancy. DHS-OTP has worked diligently to build relationships with families, communities, social service agencies, courts and the schools, instituting a collaborative approach towards remediation of truancy and positive behaviour change for agencies, communities, children and their families. This session will explore: the development of restorative practices, including family group decision making, as a vehicle to promote positive outcomes for families and schools; practical methods for successful collaboration across social service and government agencies, communities and families; capacity building and deployment of formal and informal community-based organizations as critical facilitators of inclusive collaboration between families and formal city, social and judicial services and schools; candid reflections and strategies regarding potential challenges of inter-agency and community collaboration.

Related Document

Innovation in a Retributive Traditionalistic State: The Case of Texas
Joan Burnham & Ed Davis
Nowhere is there greater need for restorative justice practices than in Texas, with the highest incarceration rate and longest parole supervision rates in the US. Some 750,000 persons are in prison, jail or under supervision, including 153,000 in prisons. Efforts are under way with community and faith-based organizations to change the system, help rebuild torn-apart families, and reduce recidivism and the number of those incarcerated. Encouraging initiatives will be highlighted, including: 1) re-entry strategies of the Restorative Justice Network of Texas, such as the 'Welcome Back' programme; 2) the family support services of the Texas Inmate Families Association (TIFA), a grassroots organization for families of incarcerated; 3) programmes that help reduce the isolation and stigma experienced by children of incarcerated parents, including a summer camp programme by the Episcopal Diocese of Texas; and 4) coalition-building efforts by TIFA and advocacy organizations during the 2005 legislative session to reform the system.

Integrating Restorative and Multi-agency Early Intervention Services: A Management Perspective
Paul Nixon & Michelle Sancho
This session will describe and analyse the introduction of an early intervention multi-agency team and its integration with a range of restorative services linking families, schools and communities. The workshop will be from a management perspective, with a combination of presentations and workshop discussions. This workshop is for managers, leading practitioners, academics and policy-makers who wish to consider the policy and management issues in integrating a systems approach to early intervention and restorative practice.

Restoring Community: Phase Two
Laurie Besant
Restoring community means starting with the basics. My first step will be to present a quick 10-minute PowerPoint presentation that takes the audience for a walk from King's Cross station, Sydney, Australia, into Rough Edges Community Centre. Secondly, I will talk about the importance of listening, acceptance and humanity. Thirdly, I hope to do some practical exercises on relationships with our world, the society that we live in and the environment. Lastly, I will be presenting interviews that have been done with the people and the clergy that I work with.

Conversation with Graham Robb
This is an opportunity for participants to meet with Graham Robb and have a follow-up conversation on his featured presentation.

Conversation with Elisabeth Vandenbogaerde and Michael Michiels
This is an opportunity for participants to meet with Elisabeth Vandenbogaerde and Michael Michiels and have a follow-up conversation on their featured presentation.

Strategic Partnerships in Restorative Justice Family Group Conferences: Benefits to Communities Served
Christine Dale, Julia Hennessy, David Iles, John Mauger & Paul Rennie
Essex Restorative Justice Family Group Conference (Essex RJFGC) is a partnership comprising the Youth Offending Service, police, Essex County Council Children's Services and Community Safety, Brentwood Catholic Children's Society, Victim Support and Children's Fund Essex. It has a multi-agency steering group with representatives from various other agencies, including prisons, and its own family members group. This session will consider how, by developing strategic partnerships, Essex RJFGC has raised and maintained a high profile of restorative justice interventions, enabling the successes in the established youth crime project to be extended into other areas of practice. It will use examples from a school community and an adult prison community to demonstrate the effectiveness of RJFGC, and show how their wider communities are benefiting from a partnership approach.

FGCs in Education: Moving On
Liz Holton
The use of FGC in child welfare, while still not in the mainstream, is growing, and restorative approaches in schools are also securely established in many areas. However, offering families a New Zealand-model family group conference to make plans for a child who is in serious difficulty in the school system is not yet a widespread approach. In Hampshire, our groundbreaking programme has been doing this since 1999. It continues to grow in the UK, and we are learning more about effective targeting of resources within a wide 'universal' service such as education. The session will cover: implementation and process of FGCs in education in Hampshire, UK; a short video including some Hampshire families' views; working with and engaging schools and education staff; effective targeting of the use of FGCs in this field; children's role in the process; findings from research about process and outcomes; the unique challenges of bringing FGC to the education sector; and future applications for education FGCs.

Related Document

Restorative Policing: Foundations for the Growth of a Restorative Organization
Les Davey & Terry O'Connell
This session will seek to demonstrate how restorative practices, when applied effectively across a whole range of policing, can lead to greater public confidence and trust in the police, safer communities and positive cultural change within the service. Two policing veterans will discuss the use of restorative practices in dealing with policing applications as diverse as public complaints about policing, internal staff grievances, community problem solving, neighbourhood disputes and prolific missing persons. They will give examples of the use of restorative practices where there is no clear-cut offender/wrongdoer and victim/person harmed and demonstrate how conferencing is equally effective in addressing more complex situations involving varying degrees of responsibility among the parties in conflict.

Video Festival

WIDENING THE CIRCLE: THE FAMILY GROUP DECISION MAKING EXPERIENCE
Produced by Brian Cahill and sponsored by Health Canada, in association with Memorial University of Newfoundland, 40 min
This video describes a dramatized intervention by an extended family and various professionals to break a pattern of family abuse. The video follows one family through the family group decision-making process and illustrates the interplay between organizations and the family as they become partners in working to stop family abuse. Project directors: Gale Burford and Joan Pennell.

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Escaping Victimhood
Tim Newell & Barbara Tudor
This session will present work with victims of crime in which their holistic needs are considered within a restorative dialogue and a residential and community context. Old Jordans, a Quaker Conference Centre, established a programme in partnership with criminal justice agencies in the Thames Valley, UK, providing referral to restorative dialogue and consideration for residential workshops for those affected by serious crime. Through the holistic approach to the person, the work seeks to support them in working through the trauma of their experience and escaping the impact of victimhood, being restored to the community. The process of the work will be described with case studies reflecting on how the system meets the needs of those affected by crime.

Related Document

Creating a Safe Place for Black Offenders
Diane Curry
Partners of Prisoners and Families Support Group (POPS), in Manchester, England, achieve restorative justice via the innovative work we do with black offenders in prison group work sessions and mentoring in the community, via our Black Prisoner Support Project (BPSP). BPSP aims to provide the end-to-end management of black offenders, specifically addressing their cultural needs.

Balancing Professional Agendas and Community Voices in the Mainstreaming of FGCs in Child Welfare
Sonia Velazquez
The power of community is the essence of FGC, yet have we 'lost the way' in the process of building a mainstream practice? Have we gone too far in our angst in building standards? Have we colonized or diluted the original spirit behind the FGC approach? In this workshop, the presenters will explore ways to look back into the essence of FGC and community and examine FGC's current driving forces, thus helping us balance our professional and organizational agendas in expanding FGCs with the maximization of the community's authentic voice and power in mainstreaming FGCs.

Related Document

Sefton: Heading Towards a Restorative Community
Mark Finnis & Paul Moran
The session will outline critical lessons learned in the development of restorative practices within a local authority area. We shall look at our service in the establishment of the Sefton Centre for Restorative Practices (England). We will outline the path of the development of our restorative processes and key lessons learned from this. We shall attempt to highlight potential useful partnerships and opportunities to aid in the establishment of services. We shall discuss our work in the Youth Offending Team, schools, residential children's homes and other partner agencies. We will outline the planned developments within Sefton and our hopes for the future. The session will allow time for questions about our approach.

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Hey Wait! I'm Flying Solo!: Implementing Restorative Practices in a Classroom Community without Systemic Support
Teri Ashley
You passionately believe in restorative practices and watch children flounder in a retributive academic environment. What can YOU do? Think big and start small! This presentation offers step-by-step strategies to create a culture where restorative practices are the norm. Empower students to articulate individual feelings and needs through a simple, powerful game that encourages the voicing of grievances, offering of amends and the celebration of kindness. A streamlined facilitation process allows students to negotiate and monitor their own progress towards conflict resolution. Former adversaries proudly celebrate their success as 'Peace Partners' with 'Peacekeeper Certificates', classroom celebration and community recognition. Seasoned negotiators become mentors and facilitators for upcoming classes and advocating ambassadors as they advance to upper grades. One class of students experiencing the spirit, soul and dignity of restorative practices can change an entire community. Teachers, parents and concerned community members will gain knowledge and tools to ignite this change.

Community Justice Panels: How Do They Work and Do They Work?
Valerie Keitch & Jill Shortland
Can justice panels work? The session will detail the work needed to gain funding and public confidence. It will contain case summaries and details of training for volunteers. It will detail the links between the various agencies involved in the panel and demonstrate how local justice can work and reduce the fear of crime.

The Development of an Integrated Restorative Justice Service in Perthshire
Robert Mackay & Shiona Mcarthur
The presenters will provide an account of a unique attempt to develop an integrated restorative justice service in Perthshire, Scotland. It will explore the issues involved in negotiating the implementation of restorative models of practice at all levels of the youth justice system: police warnings, Children's Reporter Administration and Procurator Fiscal Service decision making, disposal by children's hearings and courts, and referral by one young-offender institution. The study will also report on practice findings.

Related Document

Why the Real Justice Script
Terry O'Connell
The Real Justice script is well known to those involved in the restorative justice movement. It appears, however, that many view this script as generally useful but at times inflexible and not suited to all situations. This workshop explores the script's rationale and will show how the script's key restorative questions provide the foundation for a broad set of explicit restorative practices. It will explore the linkages between the theory and practice, as this is the basis for shifting practice from a narrow programmatic approach centred on conferences to a much wider set of restorative practices, which will not only enhance the quality of your conference, but are able to be integrated into day-to-day practice. .

Video Festival

FAMILY RIGHTS GROUP—30 YEARS ON
Produced by Sam Baron for Family Rights Group, 17 min
This video charts the history of Family Rights Group and highlights what has been achieved in 30 years. The video draws attention to the need for further reforms to improve the lives of children and their families now, including families having the right to be offered a family group conference early in the process of any child welfare or protection case. The video illustrates the impact that family group conferences can have, with three brothers describing how their family group conference led them to turn around their behaviour, following a referral for serious antisocial behaviour.

INTRODUCTION TO CONFERENCING
Produced by Real Justice, 18 min
This video provides an overview of the origins, theory and practice of conferencing. It contains testimonials from professionals and conference participants, as well as footage of actual and simulated conferences.

Genocide, Gacaca and Restorative Justice: Rwanda's Strategy for Reconstructing 'Civil' Society
Rowland Brucken
For three months in 1994, approximately 800,000 Rwandans died in a horrific slaughter committed between neighbours using primitive weapons. Over the past decade, the people of Rwanda have discussed how to punish the guilty, provide assistance to the maimed, record the past and avoid a civil war. Three approaches often employed by nations following atrocities—granting immunity to perpetrators, holding trials and performing mass executions—were dismissed as morally unacceptable or structurally impossible. Instead, Rwandans have embarked on a bold, grassroots initiative called gacaca. Supporters of gacaca believe that survivor-offender dialogue, carried out in public and mediated by distinguished lay judges, will help Rwandans express their suffering, hold offenders accountable and create a common desire to rebuild society while remembering the dead. My paper will analyse the controversial theory and practice of gacaca since it began five years ago.

Related Document

Justifying Restorative Justice: Theoretical Justification for Restorative Practices
Zvi Gabbay
As proponents of restorative justice, we tend to believe that these processes should be integrated into the criminal justice system because they work, they make sense and they address real people's needs. The justification for using restorative practices is almost self-evident to us. However, the truth is that most criminal justice practitioners are extremely sceptical about these processes, and are concerned with their feasibility, effectiveness and theoretical justification. If we want the justice system to employ restorative practices, we must address these concerns. In this session, we will first present evidence that shows the potential restorative practices have in better addressing victims' interests, the way in which the criminal justice system is perceived and its effectiveness. Then we will demonstrate the theoretical compatibility of restorative practices with the two main theories of punishment—retribution and deterrence—hence providing a theoretical justification for the use of restorative processes.

Restorative Practices in Reintegrating Troubled Teens
Vidia Negrea
In 2003 the Community Service Foundation of Hungary—a Hungarian NGO and affiliate of the International Institute for Restorative Practices—established a restorative day treatment programme in the most problematic district of Budapest, for high-risk and delinquent youths who are living either in their own homes, in foster care or in other institutions. The methodology used is based on restorative practices, with a focus on involving all those affected by the student's behaviour (parents, relatives, caseworkers, school counsellors, probation officers, etc.) in the process of reintegrating the student into his or her own environment. The goal is to empower students, parents and professionals to share responsibility for managing their conflicts and problems by focusing upon repairing harm and strengthening relationships and communities. This workshop will focus on the process of implementation in a country where the applicable legislation is not yet completed and where the notion of 'working together with people' is still under development.

Related Document

Aboriginal Community Healing Processes in Canada
Ed Buller
Issues of abuse within families, particularly Aboriginal families, have come to the surface in Canada over the last decade. In response, a growing number of Aboriginal communities are developing holistic models of treatment for Aboriginal victims, offenders, families and the community as a whole. The approach addresses the root causes of criminal activity and proactively engages offenders, victims and families to break the cycle of abuse. These initiatives work within the current criminal justice system while bringing a unique alternative to imprisonment that can lead to stronger and safer communities. Communities engaged in these healing approaches have seen significantly reduced criminal activity and several other social benefits. This presentation will highlight three models in Canada: two in First Nation communities and a third regional model encompassing several small towns. While each process is unique to that community, there are some common threads and lessons learned that could be utilized and adapted to other Aboriginal or non-Aboriginal communities.

Building Restorative Communities from the Bottom Up
Jon Steel
This session is based on a project to develop restorative approaches amongst young people in a small, relatively deprived local community in Oxford, England. The project aimed to work with local young people to transform their own approaches to conflict and to see them in turn bringing restorative practices into the lives of their families and community. In this way, the young people would be able to reduce the levels of violence and disorder they experience in their own lives, and the local community would be challenged to see young people as a solutionâ rather than a problem. The session will involve an overview of this project, what has gone well and what has not. It will then focus on a more open discussion and sharing of ideas around participants' own experiences of what works when implementing restorative approaches with young people and local communities.

Related Document

Growing Restorative Practices with System Support in the Australian Capital Territory
Faye Bormann
This session outlines how the Australian Capital Territory Department of Education and Training has developed a plan of action to introduce restorative practices and provide support to schools for its implementation. Sustainability and maintaining integrity is considered of utmost importance. The different approaches taken by some of the schools will be included in the presentation, together with departmental initiatives.

Related Document

Restorative Justice as a Tool for Organizational Change
John Boulton
My school, like most similar establishments, is accepting young people who are displaying a higher degree of disturbance, aggression and emotional difficulty than was previously the case. The 'old traditional approach' was no longer meeting the organization's needs and, indeed, often resulted in further confrontation. Many staff were starting to feel that they had become disempowered; an 'us and them' culture started to creep in, and the relationships, which are an essential aspect of our work, became less effective. After a number of false starts, we were introduced to the concept of restorative justice, and this quickly established itself as the first choice and primary method for addressing behaviour. This session will provide a background as to why a more positive approach was necessary and what the benefits have been for the pupils, staff and school.

Video Festival

RESTORATIVE STRATEGIES FOR SCHOOLS: ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSIONS
Produced by the IIRP and SaferSanerSchools, 80 min
Four expert practitioners of restorative practices discuss how to address a range of disciplinary and behavioural issues in schools. An ideal tool for administrators to raise their faculty's consciousness about restorative practices. Topics include: Attendance Issues, Acting Out in the Classroom, Bullying, When Circles 'Don't Work', Working with Parents, Restorative Consequences, Our Favourite Stories.

In the Heat of the Moment: Learning to Expect the Unexpected
Tim Myers
Even in the best-run institutions where restorative practices are routinely practised, conflict can occasionally spill over into aggressive verbal, even physical, violence. In the heat of these moments, when conflict escalates, it can be hard to maintain the awareness of all parts of the system learned in restorative practices. What would restorative crisis interventions at these moments look like? Participants are invited to re-enact situations from my experience of intervening in conflicts in schools and children's homes and to test amongst ourselves the effects of different intervention strategies. We will study: skills for quickly de-escalating conflict when it threatens to get out of hand; which attitudes of the intervener contribute to success; unfolding the meaningfulness of conflicts for all levels of the system; and, if there's time, developing awareness about personal style in intervening.

Related Document

Young People's Participation in Family Group Conferences
Deanna Edwards & Ruth Bennett
This session will explore the participation of children and young people in family group conferences. We will consider how young people's voices are heard in the process, including how young people can be become involved in project management, development and delivery. The session will include: 1) preparing young people for family group conferences; 2) ensuring young people's voices are heard in family group conferences and the benefits of this; 3) the use of advocacy; 4) young people as peer advocates; 5) ensuring that young people who have been offended against are heard at FGCs; 6) involving young people in project development. The session will be co-presented by young people who have experienced an FGC.

A Restorative Community: The Next Step Forward—How to Remain True to Restorative Principles
Robin Linthorst & Robert van Pagée
Progress towards a restorative community presents several dilemmas. Restorative action in a community requires the practical application of additional different forms of conferencing. Not only do the number and the kind of participants change, but also the reasons to act restoratively and the way restorative principles and practices are applied change. How do we guarantee, in a changing perspective, the participants' right to speak, their right to retain control of their feelings and interests, and everyone's right to fair process and a safe procedure in a safe setting? The two presenters will share experience from some cases in which restorative rules and attitudes were applied successfully and less successfully in extraordinary circumstances. Participants will be asked to join in a discussion on different dilemmas that present themselves when experimenting with moving towards a restorative community.

Transforming Workplace Conflict
Margaret Thorsborne
This session will explore the range of issues that make the resolution of conflict amongst adults in workplaces rather more difficult and complex than simply facilitating a great restorative conference. Causes and contributing factors will be unpacked so that more realistic outcomes can be anticipated. Participants will be invited to analyse their own case studies so that they might think through how best to tackle their problem.

Implementing and Sustaining a Whole-school Restorative Approach: What Is Working in UK Schools
Belinda Hopkins
Being trained in restorative skills is just the first step for teachers keen to introduce a restorative approach into their school. Implementing and sustaining a school-wide approach is the next challenge. In the session Belinda Hopkins will draw on her own experiences working in schools, as well as her recent research throughout the UK, to explore what models of good practice are being used and where, and what steps headteachers around the country have taken to ensure that their schools become communities underpinned by the ethos, principles and practices of restorative justice. The second half of the session will involve participants in an interactive restorative board game sharing their own challenges and opportunities and helping each other to identify best practice.

'Safe 'n Sound': Restorative Practices in Children's Homes and Schools
Tim Chapman & Howard Jenkinson
This workshop describes an innovative model of working with challenging and vulnerable young people in children's homes and schools. It is based upon restorative principles and skills integrated with pro-social modelling, cognitive behavioural psychology, emotional intelligence, coaching and behaviour management. The model stresses working with young people rather than doing things for or to them. The model has been tested by a trust in Northern Ireland.

Emerging Perspectives on Restorative Practices in Schools
Jean Kane, Gwynedd Lloyd, Gillean McCluskey & Brian Steele
Three papers are offered for discussion in this session. The first, presented by Gwynedd Lloyd and Gillean McCluskey, 'Old Wine in New Bottles?: Social Control with a Liberal Face?', will explore definitions and understandings of restorative practices in education. It is suggested that restorative practices may offer a way to reassess the importance and inevitability of conflicting social interaction and structures inherent in schools as complex social institutions. The second paper, presented by Jean Kane, 'Restorative Practices in Schools: Issues in Implementation', will consider the range of possibilities open to schools and relate these to organizational structures, ethos and the nature of leadership, as well as to existing approaches to discipline/behaviour management. In 'On Becoming a Restorative Education Authority', Brian Steele will outline the ways in which North Lanarkshire has attempted to introduce restorative practices across many of its schools and how restorative practices mesh with other inclusion processes. It will also examine how restorative practices have impacted upon some of its HQ operations in regard to school discipline matters.

Related Document

West Berkshire: Building Restorative and Preventative Practice in the Community
Sharon Inglis & Sandie Prouse
The multi-disciplinary team in West Berkshire, England, is trailblazing systemic change to support families, schools and communities to engage and work together to meet the needs of children and young people. The team is effectively moving the focus of service delivery to prevention and early intervention. This workshop will explore how the team works closely with schools, families, health, education, welfare and police in a groundbreaking model that explores and develops the interconnectedness of restorative practices, early intervention and multi-agency partnerships. The results can be seen: effective targeting and intervention to ensure early identification of need is preventing many service users from reaching the thresholds for targeted services. This session will offer participants the opportunity to workshop case examples using the learnings in the West Berkshire model to support them to change practice in their own organizations.

Related Document

Restorative Practices and Faith Communities
Ron Hunt & Terry O'Connell
This workshop will examine the significance of restorative justice to faith communities. The 'spiritual roots' of restorative justice are to be found in the fundamental values and beliefs that underpin faith communities. Discussion will focus on how to encourage a much greater involvement of faith communities in promoting restorative justice practices generally. This workshop will certainly appeal to those interested in developing a more inclusive and responsive faith community.