Restorative
Practices:
Justice
Is Vital for the Soul of a Community
Leaders often focus on
religion for spirituality, nutritional food and exercise for the body,
academics for the brain, attributes for character, but, what is vital for the
soul of a community?
Restorative
Practices/Justice is "peacebuilding" instead of
"peacemaking", conflict "transformation" rather than
conflict "resolution."
Slogan: "Conflict is
opportunity; don’t waste it.”
According to Howard Zehr, families should practice "Restorative justice three's":
3 assumptions
underlie restorative justice: 1) When
people and relationships are harmed, needs are created. 2) The needs created by harms lead to
obligations. 3) The obligation is to heal and “put right” the harms; this is
a just response.
3 principles
of restorative justice reflect these assumptions. A just response 1) acknowledges
and repairs the harm caused by, and revealed by, wrongdoing (restoration); 2) encourages appropriate responsibility for
addressing needs and repairing the harm (accountability); 3) involves those impacted, including the community,
in the resolution (engagement).
3 underlying values
provide the foundation: Respect,
Responsibility, Relationship.
Restorative Practices & Justice empowers
students/individuals to realize they have a voice and they have ownership of
improving school & community atmosphere.
True peace requires
us not to just make peace by ending conflicts but to build an infrastructure
for peace
*Restorative Practices:W Philadelphia HS:
Principal Saliyah Cruz
W Philadelphia HS named a “persistently dangerous school" for violence/crime. After Restorative Practices implemented, students realized they had a voice and they had ownership of school atmosphere. (see videos below)
The Transformation of West Philadelphia High - Restorative Justice
Links to Jon Powell’s program at Campbell University and the OJJDP webinar on RJ:
http://law.campbell.edu/page.cfm?id=417&n=juvenile-justice-project
https://www.nttac.org/index.cfm?event=webinarBricksMortar_webinars
