Restorative Justice for Juvenile Justice: Stakeholders, Principles, Outcomes Presented by: Gordon Bazemore, Ph.D., Project Director, Balanced and Restorative Justice Project, Community Justice Institute, Florida Atlantic University, Ft. Lauderdale, FL

-Justice as Punishment/Retribution? WHAT IS JUSTICE? -Justice as Punishment/Retribution? -Justice as Treatment? -Justice as Accountability and Responsibility!

Crime Is More Than Lawbreaking Crime HARMS: Victims, Communities, and Offenders. It also damages relationships.

If crime is harm, Justice should be healing.

THREE BASICS OF RESTORATIVE JUSTICE -3 Stakeholders -3 Principles -3 Outcomes

Restorative Justice Stakeholders: Balancing Needs Victim and family/support group Offender and family/support group Community Juvenile Justice System

VICTIM NEEDS a less formal process where their views count; WHAT VICTIMS REALLY WANT: a less formal process where their views count; more information about processing and outcome of their case;

to participate in their cases; to be treated respectfully and fairly; VICTIMS WANT: to participate in their cases; to be treated respectfully and fairly; material and emotional restoration [especially an apology];

“ Victims frequently want longer time for offenders because we haven’t given them anything else. Or because we don’t ask, we don’t know what they want. So [the system] gives them door Number One or Two, when what they really want is behind Door Number 3 or 4.” ~ Mary Achilles

RJ: FOR THE PERSON HARMED A CHOICE IN HOW THEY WANT TO PROCEED AN OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK OUT ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM AN OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE A VOICE IN HOW TO RIGHT ANY WRONGS DONE TO THEM A WAY TO FEEL SOME POWER OR SAFETY OR REASSURANCE

OFFENDER NEEDS: Young offenders need: The opportunity to take responsibility for the harm caused by their behavior; take action to repair the harm; have a voice in the decisionmaking process;

Opportunities and support for reintegration to their communities; OFFENDERS NEED: Opportunities and support for reintegration to their communities; To build a range of assets, skills and pro-social relationships.

FOR THE PERSON DOING HARM A CHANCE TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR ACTIONS AN OPPORTUNITY TO RIGHT THEIR WRONGS A CHANCE TO BE PART OF THE SOLUTION, NOT JUST THE PROBLEM THE POSSIBILITY TO LEARN FROM WHAT HAPPENED AN OPPORTUNITY TO DEVELOP EMPATHY AND UNDERSTAND IMPACT OF THEIR BEHAVIOR AN OPPORTUNITY TO GET ASSISTANCE TO ALTER OR CHANGE HARMFUL BEHAVIOR

COMMUNITY NEEDS (Formal justice system procedures) “deprive people of opportunities to practice skills of apology and forgiveness, or reconciliation, restitution, and reparation . . . The modern state appears to have deprived civil society of opportunities to learn important political and social skills. ~ David Moore

FOR THE COMMUNITY A MEANS TO HANDLE PROBLEMS THAT OTHERWISE AREN’T DEALT WITH—TOOLS, SKILLS, CONFIDENCE TO INTERVENE ACKNOWLEDGES HARM DONE TO THE COMMUNITY THE PERSON WHO COMMITTED HARM IS HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR ACTIONS TAKEN EVERYONE IS KEY TO PARTICIPATING IN THE SOLUTION

Stakeholder Involvement Community and Government Role Transformation Three Principles of Restorative Justice? Repairing Harm Stakeholder Involvement Community and Government Role Transformation

Principle 1 - REPAIR Justice requires that we work to heal victims, communities, and offenders who have been injured by crime.

Repairing Harm Two Primary Objectives: 1. Making Amends: Meeting Victim Needs; Creating a New Image for Offender; Enhancing Reciprocity 2. Building Relationships: Reconnecting with Prosocial Adults and Peers

Core Practices: Restorative Obligations or Sanctions Possible Obligations Required in an RJ Conference or Reparative Court Order: Apologize to Victims and Others Make restitution to victims Provide restorative community service Participate in victim awareness activities Other

Reconnecting… Crime weakens relationships Victim Victim Offender Victim Community Victim Community Offender Restorative justice reconnects

Principle 2 - Involvement Victims, communities and offenders should have opportunities for active involvement in the justice process as early and as fully as possible. THREE RJ PRINCIPLES

Stakeholder Involvement Three Primary Objectives: -“Respectful Disapproval”: Condemn offender’s action while supporting the offender. -“Healing Dialogue”: Needs-driven victim, offender, supporter discourse is more important than agreement.

Stakeholder Involvement Three Primary Objectives, continued: -“Common Ground”: Build on Points of Mutual Interest between V-O, V-C, O-C…collective healing

Finding Common Ground Offender Victim Community

Nonadversarial Stakeholder Decisionmaking: Core Practices: Restorative Conferencing Models Nonadversarial Stakeholder Decisionmaking: Family Group Conferencing Reparative or Accountability Boards Sentencing and Peacemaking Circles Victim Offender Dialogue (Mediation) Community Conferencing Merchant Accountability Boards

ELEMENTS of a RESTORATIVE CONFERENCE VOLUNTARY HAVE TO ADMIT HARM WILLING TO PROBLEM SOLVE ANY PARTY CAN STOP AT ANY TIME CONDUCTED BY A TRAINED FACILITATOR

RGC Participants Facilitator Supporter Offender Victim Supporter Community Member School Administrator/ Law Enforcement Models: Family Group Conferencing Community Conferencing V/O Dialogue Community Circles Healing Circles Small & Large Group Conferencing Human services And/or probation

Principle 3 – Changing Community/ System Roles & Relationships We must re-think the relative role and responsibilities of the government and the community. Government is responsible for preserving order. The community is responsible for establishing peace.

Community & The Justice System: Changing The Relationship Justice system operates separately from the community Justice system provides more information to the community about its activities. Justice system provides information to the community about its activities and asks for information from the community. Justice system asks for guidance from the community, recognizes a need for community help, and places more activities in the community. Justice system follows community leadership.

Community/System Role Transformation Three Primary Objectives: -Build “Social Capital”: Relationships and networks of trust and reciprocity—connections -Create Sense of Collective Ownership of Problem or Conflict -Develop Problem Solving Skills—Conflict resolution, informal social control, support; members of safe communities “don’t mind own business”

THREE GOALS: A BALANCED MISSION

Justice System Offender Community Victim Community Protection Competency Development Accountability Justice System

Restorative Accountability NOT “taking the punishment” or obeying the rules. Taking responsibility for, & action to making amends to victim and victimized community; Victim, youth, family and community in active roles in this process.

Restorative Accountability OUTCOMES of ACCOUNTABITY AGREEMENT: Restitution Community service Apologies Address victim and community concerns

Competency Development NOT absence of negative behavior (e.g., crime, drug use) or completion of treatment or remedial program. But, capacity to do something well that others value..

Competency Development COMPETENCY DEVELOPMENT OUTCOMES: demonstrated improvements in; educational, vocational, social, civic, and other competencies that increase youth capacity to function as capable, productive adults.

NOT building more locked facilities or creating and enforcing rules. Community Safety NOT building more locked facilities or creating and enforcing rules. But increase in capacity of community groups to prevent crime, resolve conflict, exercise guardianship, reduce community fear, define tolerance limits and exercise informal social control.

Community Safety Goals COMMUNITY SAFETY OUTCOMES: demonstrated improvements in: -Recidivism reduction; -Skills of guardianship; -Collective Efficacy, Informal Social Control; -Mutual support for youth and families -Skills of conflict resolution and reparation

Grounded Community Theory: Neighborhood Accountability Boards Why it Works Grounded Community Theory: Neighborhood Accountability Boards “We aren’t getting paid to do this.” “We can exercise the authority that parents have lost.” “We live in their community.” “We give them input into the contract.” “We are a group of adult neighbors who care about them.” “They hear about the harm from real human beings – us and the victims.” “We follow up.”

“So we make mistakes – can you say – you (the current system) don’t make mistakes? If you don’t think you do, walk through our community, every family will have something to teach you…By getting involved, by all of us taking responsibility, it is not that we won’t make mistakes… But we would be doing it together, as a community instead of having it done for us. We need to find peace within our lives…in our communities. We need to make real differences in the way people act and the way we treat others…Only if we empower them and support them can they break out of this trap…” ~ Rose Couch, Community Justice Coordinator, Whitehorse, Yukon