Assess The Importance Of Legislation Relevant To Restorative Practice

Restorative justice has shown some positive results, with the victims being able to forgive the offender for the offense committed against them bringing a sense of closure. There were little feelings of revenge that typically lingers and leave the victim confused about the decision of restorative justice

Some may see restorative justice as good and bad. It is good because the victim and offender can both express what they are feeling about the crime that was done. But it could also be bad because talking about the event brings back memories to the victim and may make them angrier rather than feeling justified. The offender also may not even be sincere with their apology they’re probably just telling the victim what they want to hear. Most of the cases that I have read and watched about restorative justice were beneficial to the victims.

Its most commonly known definition was provided by Marshall in 1996, that describes restorative justice as a process where both parties; victims and offenders, work together to restore, resolve and deal with the after effects of the offence and future ramifications (as cited in Van Camp & Wemmers, 2013). The concept of restorative justice originally derived from various indigenous and pre-industrial western justice practices, however, in the 1970's it begun to appear in modern times and was then developed as a reference to describe victim-offender programs that were developed in North America (Strang, 2001). Restorative Justice approaches spread across the world in the 1990's, where many countries such as Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom, began introducing these approaches as alternatives in their criminal justice systems (Braithwaite, 1999). The concept of restorative justice usually involves victim and offender direct participation and is conducted in the form of conferences or mediation. This is where both parties; the victims and offenders, come together fact-to-face in one location, alongside a facilitator, police and support people, and work out together the consequences of the offenders actions and the

As a teacher, I have observed several types of conflict involving students, teachers, parents, and staff. In many situations, the result have not been positive and relationships damaged due to the inability to handle conflicts in a more positive and restorative way, which is something that DTR and Restorative Justice greatly offer. By working on the issue with the goal to make things as right as possible, relationship, trust, order, integrity, dignity, accountability, and hope are restored, and the parts involved grow and learn with the experience.

Explain the different types of bullying and the potential effects on children and young people? How would you support a child or young person and their family when bullying is suspected or alleged?

Julie Hilt is the executive director of the Solano County Bar Association. Julie realized that Solano County didn’t have a restorative justice program. Julie realizes this program is new to Solano County and hope the program is supported in the community. Julie states the purpose of the restorative justice program in Solano County focus is to restore the community and promote healing after a crime; the process has additional benefits, such as increased restitution for victims, greater satisfaction with the system and potentially lower recidivism. Julie believes the restorative justice program is designed to teach the offender to be accountable for their wrong doings. Julie says the practices of the program are allowing the victim(s) who is willing the opportunity to come forward and participate in a face to face meeting with offenders.

What is restorative justice? Restorative justice is when youths that were affected by an incident choose to repair the damage that they committed, restore trust, and find a place in the community in which they can fit into society. Not only that, but one of their main focus is to build respectful relationships that can be noticed by everyone (Murthy, 2016, para. 2). The restorative justice approach shares three goals. These three goals are known as accountability, competency, and public safety. Accountability is responsible for making amends and reestablishes the losses to victims and communities. The purpose of accountability is not to obey a curfew, attending counseling, having interaction with a probation officer, or evade the usage of drugs. The full meaning of restorative justice is simply to take full responsibility for the actions that were committed (del Carmen & Trulson, 2006, p. 446). The purpose of competency is basically doing something that’s going to value another person. Not doing an illegal crime doesn’t count as a standard for competency. Getting offenders involved in different activities would value the community. Activities that value the community are work, community service, dispute resolution, and community problem solving. All of these activities help rebuild the offender, victim, and of course the community (del Carmen & Trulson. 2006, p. 446). The last one which is public safety helps offenders get more involved within the community through

The purpose of the restorative justice involves three basic goals: reestablishing the victims, reuniting offenders to the community, and helping to heal the community (Goodstein, and Butterfield, 2010). After being charged with an offense, the offender will always have that label on them and how everyone acts towards the offender will change. Restorative justice practices gives the offender a chance to change their outlook on life after being charged. These type of practices involve repairing and restoring relationships. Victims have the chance to come face-to-face with their offenders which could possibly lead to closure.

Restorative justice is based on the principle that criminal behavior injures not only the victim but also the community and the offender, and any effort to resolve these problems caused by criminal behavior should involve all of these parties. Common restorative justice initiatives are victim-offender mediation, circle sentencing, community holistic healing programs, and family group conferences. A key to all these responses to criminal behavior is to address not only the offender, but all parties involved including the victim and their families, offender's family, community citizens, and even the police officers themselves.

Restorative justice (RJ) is the practice of trying to restore the victims of harm or trauma back to a state of peace and contentment. It is used to benefit the victims so they can in a way reclaim a part of themselves. Restorative justice has three main models/practices; Victim Offender Conferencing (VOC), Circle Processes, and Family Group Conferences. Victim offender conferencing is the most common application of restorative justice in North America. In, The Little Book of Victim Offender Conferencing, Lorraine Stutzman Amstutz explains, “the victim offender conferencing process brings victims and offenders of crime together in a face-to-face meeting prepared and led by a trained facilitator, often a community volunteer, to talk about the impact of the consequences of the crime.”

They discuss the crime and what impact it has had on both the victim and the offender. Restorative process consists of individuals who give support to the offender and the victim during their conversation. There are mediators which help the victim and the offender in the discussion of the impact of the crime and try to help resolve any issues. This process is generally separated into three different portions; these are the preparation for the pre-conference, the conference, and the follow up conference.

The way I explained the concept of restorative justice to my longtime friend Michelle who also obtained her associates in psychology is as follows:

Restorative Justice was created in effort to repare the victim of a crime (emotionally and mentally), along with restoring the criminals view and attitude towards the public/community. It is based off the Christian belief of forgiving, and working things out with the one who has done you wrong. Restorative Justice has the community focus on the victim, and takes the criminals attention away from his/her punishment. This justice system works “through a process of negotiation, meditation, victim empowerment, and reparation” (“Restorative Justice”). Restorative Justice is often used in elementary schools. For example, if a kid picked on you, you were sent into the hallway to talk through it with them. This is Restorative Justice. This justice

The restorative justice practices I will probably want to use are Truth and Reconciliation Commissions and Family Group Conferencing because in the church environment, we teach biblical principles such as being truthful and honest, which involves family members, friends, and members of the Church congregation. The Church atmosphere is usually a calm and spiritual, warm feeling place.

I consider that restorative justice can be a viable decision-making approach in some circumstances. Various studies indicate that these programs can be effective to improve satisfactory resolutions among victims and offenders, increased compliance with restitution for offenses committed, and reduce recidivism of offenses. In the area of psychology I ponder that victim-offender mediation, circles, and victim-offender panels can help on existing decision-making processes or prepare professionals for future decisions. Victim-offender mediation includes the victim, offender, and trained mediators. In this forum, both the victim and the offender express their views and feelings about the issue in hand, and then come to a mutual agreement on how to solve the problem. The mediator is there only to facilitate the decision-making process, not favor any parties involve. In this process both the victim and the offender must be willing to voluntarily confront each other.