Howard Zehr: "Restorative practice three's"
3 assumptions underlie restorative practice: * When people and relationships are harmed, needs are created
* The needs created by harms lead to obligations.
* The obligation is to heal and “put right” the harms; this is a just response.
3 principles of restorative practice reflect these assumptions: A just response…
* acknowledges and repairs the harm caused by, and revealed by, wrongdoing
(restoration);
* encourages appropriate responsibility for addressing needs and repairing the harm
(accountability);
* involves those impacted, including the community, in the resolution
(engagement).
3 underlying values provide the foundation:
* Respect
* Responsibility
* Relationship
3 questions are central to restorative practice:
* Who has been hurt?
* What are their needs?
* Who has the obligation to address the needs, to put right the harms, to restore relationships?
(As opposed to: What rules were broken? Who did it? What do they deserve?)
3 stakeholder groups should be considered &/or involved:
* Those who have been harmed, and their families
* Those who have caused harm, and their families
* Community
3 aspirations guide restorative practice: the desire to live in right relationship:
* with one another;
* with the creation;
* with the Creator.
Howard Zehr: "Peacebuilding” instead of “Peacemaking”
because conflicts arise from specific contexts. To address conflicts and build peaceful communities, we need to understand the contexts that lead to conflict & create contexts that promote peace.
John Paul Lederach: it takes as long to end a conflict as it does to create it.
True peace requires us not to just make peace by ending conflicts but to build an infrastructure for peace.
Conflict “transformation” used rather than Conflict “resolution”
Conflict is normal and can often be an opportunity for growth. It is important to analyze and address the relational and institutional context in which conflict occurs and to encourage healthy contexts in which conflict is manageable and furthers learning and renewal.
Slogan: “Conflict is opportunity. Don’t waste it.”
*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.
(9:03 min. video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HatSl1lu_PM )
*Innovative Concept Academy: St. Louis Judge Jimmy Edwards
“In 2009, after watching a string of teen offenders come through his courtroom, Judge Edwards took action. Along with 45 community partners, he took over an abandoned school and opened the Academy. Providing strict discipline, counseling and programs like chess, music and creative writing, and mandatory after-school activities, the center has changed the lives of many young people, giving them the opportunity to graduate from high school and lead successful lives.”
375 students presently enrolled: day & evening classes
(17:37 min. video: http://tedxstlouis.com/speakers/jimmie-edwards
375 students presently enrolled: day & evening classes
