Restorative Justice and Protective Behaviours: a perfect match
Sep 21, 2009
from the Restorative Justice Consortium's Summer 2009 newsletter:
PBs originated in the 1970s in the United States when a school social worker, Peg Flandreau West, responded to a number of pupils who were coming to her for help. In time she observed a pattern; many of these young people had been the victims of abuse - emotional, physical, sexual - and had suffered in silence, sometimes for long periods, before seeking help.
Peg raised her concerns with colleagues, consulted with survivors, professionals, friends, and explored how best to help these young people. This initiative developed into the two Themes and seven Strategies we call the Protective Behaviours Process.
It has been said that the greatest truths are the simplest and the PBs Process is based on two very simple truths or, as we call them, the two Themes:
Theme One: We all have the right to feel safe all the time
Theme Two: There is nothing so awful or small that we can't talk about it with someone
Supporting the two themes are the seven PBs Strategies:
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Theme Reinforcement
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Protective Interruption
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Persistence
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Risking on Purpose
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One Step Removed
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Network Review
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The Language of Safety
Read the whole article. If you are not a member of RJC, then you may need to wait until the article is posted in the archives (see the bottom of the linked page)
For further information on Protective Behaviours, check out their website.
We all have the rigth to feel safe all the time