The promise, the challenge

Restorative justice for victimsRestorative Justice Symposium

Colorado Springs 2010

Howard Zehr

Terminology?

Restore?

Repair?

Recover?

Lynn Shiner

I can’t reorder anything because if I did, I would just pick up the scrambled pieces and put them back in order. It’s more like all the rungs on a ladder are removed. I’m at the bottom and have to start over.

Closure?

“I hate that term with a purple passion…I don’t see closure coming…. you are never closed with what happened.” - Pam Ayers

“I think the reason people use the word “closure is to give people like us hope…but a happy ending is just not going to happen.” - Robert Ayers

Transcendence to rise above or go beyond the limits of .... to triumph over the negative or restrictive

aspects of .... to rise above or extend notably beyond

ordinary limits

Vaclev Havel:“transcendence is the only alternative to extinction”

Transcendence

begins in trauma

Crime is traumatic

Stress Trauma PTSD

For “minor”…as well as …“serious” offenses

Traumatic Crises

A world gone wrong….

“…a profoundly political state in which

the world has gone wrong,

in which you feel isolated from the broader community

by the inarticulatable extremity of experience.”

-Bruce Shapiro, survivor of violent attack

The Three “D’s”

• Disorder

• Dis-empowerment

• Disconnection

Old issues must be revisited:

• Empowerment

• Connection & Identity

• Order

A series of journeys:

• Journey toward meaning

• Journey toward honor

• Journey toward vindication

• Journey toward justice

Re-storying

• Creating new meaning

• Drawing boundaries, incorporating painful experiences

• Finding new metaphors

• Transforming humiliation into honor

Vindication

• Removing shame & humiliation

• Making moral judgements - assessing/assuming responsibility

• Balancing the scale (“getting even” as a basic need for reciprocity)

Trauma Healing Journey: Breaking the Cycles

Act of “justified aggression” in the name of self defense

Physiological changesTrauma: shock, injury, pain,

denial

Realization of loss - panic

Anger – why me?Shame, humiliation,

survivor’s guilt

Suppression of grief, fears

Loss of meaning (Learned) helplessness

Desire for justice and vindication Fantasies

of revenge

Development of Good versus Evil narrative/ Dehumanization of

the enemy

MourningGrieving

Accept LossName/confront fears

“Why them?”Understanding root causes

Rehumanize the aggressor/ enemyFacing own/group shortcomings*

Engaging “the other” (or society if the offender is not available).

Choosing to forgive

Establishing justice:Reviewing History:

Reconstructing a meaningful narrative together

Negotiating solutionsJoint Planning

Establishing justice Admitting guiltPublic apology

Restitution“Creative Justice”

Possibility of reconciliation

ToleranceCoexistence

Interconnectedness

Breaking Free

Integrating Trauma into new self/group identity

Aggression(begin here)

Copyright © 2004 Eastern Mennonite University, Adapted from model by Olga Botcharova

Committing to take risks

#1 TRAUMATIC EVENT(S)ACT(S) OF

AGGRESSION

#2 Physiological changes

#3 Shock, injury, denial, anxiety, fear

#6 Anger, Rage Spiritual questions

Loss of meaning

#5 Suppression of grief and fears —numbing,

isolation

#7 Survivor guilt, Shame and humiliation#8 Learned

helplessness

#7 Social and cultural pressures, pride.#6 Decision to pursue

own needs,even at the expense of others

#4 Dehumanization of the enemy

#3 Development of good-vs.- evil narrative

#2 Unmet needs for safety and justice -- shame, humiliation,

fear

#5 Seeing violence as redemptive

Enemy/AggressorCycle

#1 Seeing self/group as victims, increased group

identity

#4 Realization of loss – panic

#8 Attack in the name of self-defense, justice

or restoring honor

#9 Re-experiencing events, intrusive thoughts, avoiding reminders, hypervigilence

#10 Fantasies of revengeNeed for justice

Survivor/VictimCycle

the offender/victim cycles go on and on

Copyright © 2004 Eastern Mennonite University

Justice needs

•Safety

Justice needs

• Safety

•Information - answers

Justice needs

• Safety

• Information – answers

•Truth-telling

Justice needs

• Safety

• Information – answers

• Truth-telling

•Empowerment

Justice needs

• Safety• Information – answers

• Truth-telling• Empowerment

•Vindication & validation

Does criminal justice deliver?

“If one set out to design a system for provoking intrusive post-traumatic symptoms, one could not do better than a court of law.” - Judith Lewis Herman

Restorative Justice asks

What does

Justice require?

Restorative justice assumptions

1. When people are hurt, meeting their needs is first priority.

2. Harms create obligations. Those who are responsible are obligated to make things as right as possible.

3. Those involved in or impacted by the harm should be involved in the resolution.

Another way: when wrongs occur, we…

• Address the harms caused by, and revealed by, the wrong.

• Identify the resulting obligations and responsibilities to repair the harms.

• Involve those who have a stake in the resolution.

Restorative justice is NOT

• Forgiveness

• Reconciliation

Restorative justice IS about

• Needs

• Obligations

• Process/engagement

RJ is needs –focused more than deserts focused

In theory, then

RJ starts with victims/survivors

“RJ addresses offender needs by focusing on victims” – Mary Achilles

Will restorative justice deliver?

-In principle: restorative justice is victim-oriented

-In practice: research is very promisinghigh restitution rates

high degrees of satisfaction

reduced fear and trauma

Sherman & Strang 2007

“The evidence consistently suggests that

victims benefit, on the average, from face to

face RJ conferences.”

“…when victims willing meet offenders face to face, they obtain short-term benefits for their mental health by reduced post-traumatic stress systems (PTSS). This may, in turn, reduce their lifetime risks of coronary disease…as well as reducing health costs paid by taxpayers.”

“Furthermore, available evidence shows that these victims are far more satisfied than their counterparts whose cases are dealt with in the formal justice system.”

The challenges:

Are victims as central as we claim?

The challenges:

Are victims as central as we claim?

Are we as responsive, collaborative, accountable as we promise?

The challenges:

Are victims as central as we claim?

Are we as responsive, collaborative, accountable as we promise?

Is RJ the “same wolf but in sheep’s clothing?”

Some guidelines or signposts:

Are victims & their advocates represented on planning groups and boards?

Some guidelines or signposts:

Are victims & their advocates represented on planning groups and boards?

Is the desire to help victims genuine, or motivated by a desire to help offenders or the system?

Some guidelines or signposts:

Are victims & their advocates represented on planning groups and boards?

Is the desire to help victims genuine, or motivated by a desire to help offenders or the system?

Are victims’ judicial needs truly addressed in our programs?

Some guidelines or signposts:

Are victims & their advocates represented on planning groups and boards?

Is the desire to help victims genuine, or motivated by a desire to help offenders or the system?

Are victims’ judicial needs truly addressed in our programs?

Are victims given the information, opportunity and resources to define their needs and make choices?

Some guidelines or signposts:

Are victims & their advocates represented on planning groups and boards?

Is the desire to help victims genuine, or motivated by a desire to help offenders?

Are victims given the information, opportunity and resources to define their needs and make choices?

Are victims’ judicial needs truly addressed in our programs?

Are there services to victims, regardless of whether an offender is identified or cooperative?

The bottom line….

We must be truly accountable to

our principles

and the “stakeholders” -

victims, offenders, communities

3 approaches

for system-wide improvement

Option 1

Work within the existing system

to maximize options

Option 2

Susan Herman:

Parallel Justice for Victims

Option 3

Retain the best of the existing system but making it more restorative

Reframe justice away from the crime control vs due process polarities

The crime control orientation

• Order and security above freedom and due process

• Focus on quick and certain punishment

• Minimize due process obstacles

The due process orientation

• Personal freedom trumps order

• Protect individuals from mistake and abuse of state power through due process protections

In common

• Focus on punishment rather than repair

• Focus on defendants (offenders) rather than victims

• IE the central question in both: What punishment does the offender deserve?

• Griffiths: a “battle model” – win/lose

Restorative justice : a third way?

Justice that focuses on

repair and responsibility,

on repairing and reducing harm,

concerned about victims as well as offenders

Restorative justice...

• Is not just about encounter……

• Is a way of looking at wrongdoing that emphasizes repair of harm and accountability of wrongdoers

Changing questions

• Who has been hurt?

• What are their needs?

• What are the causes?

• Whose obligations are these?

• Who has a “stake” in this?

• What is the process to involve them in making right the wrongs?

A compass – not a map

Transcendence is possible

It has taken me a long time, but I think it is important for people to know that I’m happy. That’s a hard thing to say but I’m happy. I am at peace.

“transcendence is theonly alternative to extinction”

Vaclev Havel