Promoting quality restorative practice for everyone

Restorative Justice Council Workshop by

Jeannette Brown, Restorative Approaches in Housing, and Luke

Roberts, Restorative Justice Council

Promoting quality restorative practice for everyone

Who has heard of restorative justice?

What is restorative justice?

• Restorative Approaches:‘A way of preventing and resolving conflict,

which allows individuals to resolve differences. It develops the language of emotion and allows people the time to collect thoughts and feelings. There is a calm resolution process where everyone is listened to and usually the result is a point where issues are resolved and people can move on’

The issue of harm

•The focus is not on evidence but on the

harm caused by conflict, Anti-Social Behaviour,

and Crime.

5

Communication Triangle

Housing Officer

Complainant

Perpetrator

Why use Face to Face Meetings to resolve Neighbour Disputes?

• Warnings from the housing officer can create further bad feeling and may prolong/escalate the dispute

• Neighbours’ desire for the problem to stop and for things to be better (rather than legal action)

• It encourages to be good neighbours by speaking to each other directly to make things better and reduces the likelihood of the case being reopened

• Can be used where Court action is not appropriate

7

cont'd

• Savings in legal costs

• It can repair the relationship rather than just stop the conflict

• Customer and job satisfaction

The benefits of neighbours meeting face to face

• They know what they want to make things better • They can get to the root cause of the problem in one meeting• They can share information with each other directly • They generally agree to ‘knock on’ each other’s door• It helps to build better communities

9

Case Study 2 - Boys will be boys!

• Two families with children aged between 7 and 14

• Children falling out and telling their parents their account of what has happened

• Fathers getting angry and not listening to each other

• All wanted things to be better

• Parents and children attend a meeting

Restorative Justice

Questions?

Closing comments

Jeannette and Luke

Thanks for listening

Promoting quality restorative practice for everyone

Want to know more or join?

Visit: www.restorativejustice.org.uk/new-joiners

Contact the RJC: 0207 831 5700 or enquiries@restorativejustice.org.uk