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Natalie Medina, an actor who also teaches theater to youth in Panama with Fundación Amaneceres, discusses why kids like the combination of theater and circles, the importance of the talking piece and a play young refugees developed inspired during a circle discussion.
Last year, Jamaica, as a key component of implementing its National Restorative Justice Policy, opened seven Community Restorative Justice Centers working officially in 11 communities. In their first phase of implementation, these centers have begun to address community conflicts and complaints outside the formal justice system.
When teenagers turn to drugs and alcohol in ways that damage their lives and relationships, it’s challenging to help them turn their lives around. The choice to use alcohol and drugs can mask other underlying issues, including shame and other painful emotions, and can be exacerbated by the difficulties of communication. This article explores how everyday language can be used within a restorative framework to help parents of teens struggling with drug abuse and addiction to reintegrate in a healthy way with their families, schools, friends and communities.
Drug and alcohol counselor Elizabeth Smull, who has worked primarily with teens struggling with addiction and their families, uses the full range of restorative practices on a daily basis, especially many of the more informal practices, such as affective statements and questions. Beyond using these techniques, Smull actively teaches those she works with how to use these techniques themselves. This begins immediately after a teen has returned home from a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program or has been court-ordered to a period of juvenile probation.
Selvenis has committed Holtzman Elementary, which serves grades three to five and is located on the outskirts of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA, to school-wide restorative practices implementation. “From what I have seen,” he said, “the strongest implication is for the classroom. I see teachers utilizing circles for instruction and actually working on academics. Teachers are using circles to share information and have students report out from groups, talk about their beliefs and argue their points of view. ”
St. Croix Valley Restorative Justice Program (SCVRJP), based in River Falls, Wisconsin, USA, has developed a unique practice for working with young adults who have been arrested for crimes such as underage drinking, possession of drugs and paraphernalia, disorderly conduct and teen driving offenses. Using a restorative circle process, SCVRJP brings together offenders referred by the local courts, universities and high schools, who meet together with previous offenders and other community volunteers who have been impacted by these issues. A volunteer circle-keeper facilitates a focused discussion to present information to participants and to share a variety of perspectives.
The process builds upon victim impact panels (VIP), a process in which victims and family of drunk driving accidents tell their stories to those caught drinking and driving. Often VIPs take place in a hall full of participants, with the victims telling their stories from a podium or stage. Kris Miner, director of SCVRJP since 2004, wanted to make the experience more intimate and meaningful. “We continued to call them panels at first,” she said, “but actually we ran them as restorative justice circles.”
In Lima, the capital of Peru, Schmitz trained a team of 30 professionals who work with adult and youth offenders in non-punitive alternative justice programs, such as those that assign community service work. Prior to the training, said Schmitz, the professionals were interested in only one thing: whether the offenders were completing their required service. Now, with restorative practices as a theoretical and practical foundation, the professionals have begun to employ circles with the offenders. In addition to the community service work, they give offenders a chance to talk to one another using a circle format, reflecting on their actions and discussing how they might repair the harm they’ve caused. During one circle Schmitz attended, he was impressed by one of the offenders, who talked about how important it was for him to learn about the experience of others in the group. The offender said he is more conscious of his own actions now. He said he believes he has righted his wrongs and no longer owes a debt to those he harmed.
In this short video segment, Les Davey, chief executive of IIRP Europe, discusses work his organization has done in Ireland with victims of sexual abuse by clergy. Sexual abuse cases require careful handling, but they can be powerful experiences, especially for victims. In this video Davey describes one example of the positive effects a conference had for a victim of abuse, who was finally able to sleep well after the restorative meeting. Davey has recently been approached to run a restorative conference for a child in England who was abused in her home at a young age by an ex-boyfriend of her mother.
Watch the short video, "Restorative responses to sexual abuse by clergy," at youtube.
In "Restoring Relationships: What churches can learn from restorative justice," Paul Pastor for Christianity Today writes:
Bruce Schenk is a Lutheran pastor and the director of Canada's International Institute for Restorative Practices. The IIRP is an internationally affiliated organization dedicated to education and research in restorative justice — an approach to community conflict that emphasizes relationships. Bruce has worked in the area for the past 15 years, using his skills in contexts ranging from incarcerated juvenile offenders to church congregational decisions. Now, he's bringing what he's learned to a wider audience. His trainings have been sponsored by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada to better equip clergy and laity to foster healthy relationships and manage conflict.
I asked Tom Albright of Ripple Church in Allentown, Pennsylvania how Schenk's philosophy has impacted his congregation. "Shalom and reconciliation are the heart of the gospel," Albright said. "Restorative practices give us the tools to enact peace, redemption, reconciliation, and healthy relationships." Ripple's pastoral staff are all trained in restorative practices—a story for another day, but one worth telling.
Schenk and I sat down for a phone conversation on restorative justice in church settings. He thinks Christian leaders need to rethink decision-making—and conflict—in their congregations, and why "thinking restoratively" is at the heart of the gospel.
Read Restoring Relationships: What churches can learn from restorative justice.
Judge Mark Ingram, a magistrate court judge for the Fifth Judicial District in Idaho, was exposed to restorative practices while practicing law 12 years ago. He worked with various kinds of mediation, beginning with personal injury but leaning more toward child custody and victim-offender mediation because they were “more relational,” he said. When he became a judge in his hometown of Shoshone, the Lincoln County seat, with a population of about 1,500, he began to look for ways to help resolve tensions in the community between old-time farmers and new transplants. A Community Justice Coalition with a restorative mission organized large community meetings to foster helpful discussions. But Ingram continued to struggle with the question of how to bring a restorative spirit into the court system in a practical way.
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