Vidia Negrea will be a featured presenter at the IIRP Europe 2015 conference. The conference, entitled "From Dream to Reality: Dawning of a New Social Science," will be held June 10-12, 2015, in Budapest, Hungary. Learn more »
Vidia will chair the morning plenary session on day one, a panel about applications of restorative practices in criminal justice settings. She will also present in two breakout sessions related to her work in corrections (details below).
Brief biography
Vidia Negrea is the director for Central and Eastern Europe at IIRP Europe. As a clinical psychologist and restorative practitioner she has been working for more than a decade on implementing restorative practices in different fields, from elementary schools to higher education and communities. Currently she works in prison and community-related projects where restorative strategies are used to support re-entry into society.
Video
In this video, Vidia offers a preview of her breakout sessions on restorative work with prisoners:
Breakout sessions
Prison Radio: Restorative Practices on Air
Vidia will co-present this sesson with Judit Hadju, Wednesday, June 10, at 3:10 PM. The session description states: The first Hungarian prison radio started broadcasting at Vác Penitentiary on December 1, 2014. The radio is made by prisoners for prisoners assisted by radio journalists and psychologists of Speak Out Association. Its aim is to create, with the active help of the inmates, an information and communication forum within the prison that can help resolve conflicts, decrease tension, popularize existing prison programs and support groups, and thus contribute to reintegration. We plan to produce programs that can influence the norm and value system of the offenders, provide valuable information about prison life and possible support, and increase their capacity for self-determination.
The Restorative Practices Continuum Within and Around a Prison
Vidia will present this session on Thursday, June 11, at 2 PM. The session description states: The negative impact of imprisonment on prisoners’ motivation to make changes and on the relationship with their family proportionally increases with the time spent in prison. For security reasons most of the discussions between inmates or with the staff doesn’t include topics related to the committed crime or the needs created and just gets left behind. Besides most of the prisoners have a rather unfavorable family or personal background fulfilled with drug and alcohol addiction, neglect, family violence or sexual abuse. After all, it is not surprising why there is a lot of skepticism toward the efforts of restorative practitioners to work in correctional institutions. Accountability and responsibility taking, democracy and citizenship, maintaining and restoring family relations while repairing harm seems a real challenge for everyone.
