My experience with the Sycamore Tree Project

from the article by a British prison chaplain:

I’ve been facilitating the Sycamore Tree courses in my prison now for about eighteen months. Sycamore Tree is the Restorative Justice programme run by Prison Fellowship (http://www.pfi.org/). It is a six week course which runs one afternoon a week.

Over such time you would not expect very much to happen. How can you change a person’s outlook on their life in six short afternoons?

Feb 06, 2012    Country:England&Wales , Region: Europe , Other , Victim , Prison

Accountability closer to home

by Susan Sharpe

Last Thanksgiving weekend, I opened a Wikipedia page and saw a banner asking me to help pay for the service I was about to use. I gulped. They’d hooked me. Having turned to Wikipedia many, many times, I finally anted up and sent a contribution to help pay for what I've been using. 

I've never seen such a banner on RJ Online. Here, there is just a box that says, "RJ Online is a free service to anyone interested in the topic. If you find the site useful and are able to do so, please consider making a tax-deductible (US) donation to PFI." 

Feb 03, 2012    RJ Online

Martin Luther King and life after hate

from the entry by Evelyn Zellerer on Peace of the Circle:

....“The nonviolent approach does not immediately change the heart of the oppressor. It first does something to the hearts and souls of those committed to it. It gives them new self-respect; it calls up resources of strength and courage that they did not know they had. Finally it reaches the opponent and so stirs his conscience that reconciliation becomes a reality.” [Martin Luther King]

Feb 02, 2012    Policy , Region: North America and Caribbean , Country:USA , Case:Hate Crime

Review: A community-based approach to the reduction of sexual re-offending: circles of support and accountability

by Martin Wright

Often sex offenders are isolated people who have difficulty making relationships, and when they come out of prison the double stigma of prison and the nature of their offence isolates them still more – an extra hardship for them, and an increased risk that they will revert to their previous behaviour. So the idea of forming a circle of support for them is both humane and a safeguard. It does not fall under the usual definition of restorative justice, because it does not include dialogue with the victim, which would in many cases be unwanted and/or inappropriate. It does however restore or even improve the situation of the offender, and it involves members of the community. 

Feb 01, 2012    Case:Abuse , Country:England&Wales , Book Review , Practice , Correspondent:Martin Wright , Region: Europe , Case:Sexual , Policy , Circle

How restorative justice can empower victims in serious crimes - two cases of rape

from the post by Jonathan Bartley in Ekklesia:

A frequently repeated myth about restorative justice is that it can’t work for “serious” or “violent crimes”. As restorative practices become more widely available however, this myth is being busted. Its role in shifting the power imbalance around crime towards the victim is becoming increasingly apparent. Its ability to help victims overcome the fear of crime and move on, in a way that more punitive practices often don't, is also being appreciated. Two examples that have been cited recently involve cases of rape.

Jan 31, 2012    Case:Violence , Case:Sexual