Restorative Circles

Creating conditions for realizing

the gift of conflict

Paradigm Shift

No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.

~ Albert Einstein

Conventional paradigm

A justice system springs into action Takes conflict away from those involved

Identifies who broke the rule (the “offender”)

Determines what rule was broken

Punishes offender (appropriately)

We call the punishment “justice”

We’re about 400 X more just than in 1980

What happens when rules are broken?

Retributive or Punitive Justice

What law has been broken? Who broke it? How shall they be punished?

Does punishment = justice ?

Is it moral?

Old Testament: “An eye for an eye”

Talmud: “If we are kind to those to whom we should be cruel, then we will be cruel to those to whom we should be kind”

Conventional Justice: “The punishment must fit the crime”

But

“An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind.” ~ source

“Harmed people harm people”

Does punishment = justice ?

Is it effective?

We really need to define “effective”

Is the right person punished?

Is the punishment unbiased?

Racial profiling by police

Unequal access to quality legal representation

Racial bias in jury verdicts and sentencing

Racial bias in policing

Per 10,000 residents, the black stop rate is 3,400 stops higher than the white stop rate

Relative to stopped whites, stopped blacks are 127% more likely to be frisked.

Relative to stopped whites, stopped blacks are 76% more likely to have their vehicle searched.

Relative to stopped whites, stopped blacks are (only!) 29% more likely to be arrested

Ayres, I. & Borowsky (2008). A Study of Racially Disparate Outcomes in the Los Angeles Police Department. Retrieved 6-01-2012 from http://www.aclu-sc.org/downloads/2/681086.pdf

Ayres & Borowsky analyzed outcomes of pedestrian and motor vehicle stops by the Los Angeles Police Department from July, 2003 to June, 2004

Does punishment = justice ?

Is it effective?

We really need to define “effective”

Is the right person punished?

Is the punishment unbiased?

Are offenders rehabilitated?

Is the community safer?

Is there a better way to do justice?

What would an ideal justice system look like?

Defining “Restorative Justice”

An approach to justice that focuses on the needs of the victims and the offenders, as well as the involved community, instead of satisfying abstract legal principles or punishing the offender.

Based on a theory of justice that considers crime and wrongdoing to be an offence against an individual or community, rather than the state.

What is Restorative Justice?

Restorative Justice is a process to involve, to the extent possible, those who have a stake in a specific offense and to collectively identify and address harms, needs, and obligations, in order to heal and put things as right as possible.

~Howard Zehr

Restorative Principles

Ideally involves everyone impacted by what happened (i.e., community involvement)

Cares for well-being of “victim”, “offender” and community

Focus on repairing harm

Voluntariness

Power sharing

Working WITH people

Restorative or Unitive Justice

What harm has been caused and to whom?

What needs have arisen based on this harm?

Whose obligation is it to meet these needs?

Restorative Justice Goals

Process: To create a container where the needs of all parties matter “truth” can be spoken perspective taking is possible

Goals Identify and repair the harm done Restore relationships Create conditions to decrease likelihood of

future harm

Purple and Black by Patricia Williams

One summer when I was about six, my family drove to Maine.The highway was very straight and hot and shimmered darkly in the sun.My sister and I sat in the back seat of the Studebaker and argued about what color the road was. I said black. My sister said purple. After I had harangued her into admitting that it was indeed black, my father gently pointed out that my sister still saw it as purple.I was unimpressed with the relevance of that at the time; but with the passage of years, and much more observation, I have come to see endless highways as slightly more purple than black.My sister and I will probably argue about the hue of life's roads forever.But the lesson I learned from listening to her wild perceptions is that it really is possible to see things--even the most concrete things--simultaneously yet differently; and that seeing simultaneously yet differently is more easily done by two people than one, but that one person can get the hang of it with lots of time and effort.

Alternative Perspectives

Reality is complicated

Sometimes what you see depends on what you focus on first.

Reality is complicated

Sometimes you find that it completely changes when you get up close and personal.

Reality is complicated

Sometimes it just depends on where you’re standing

Reality is complicated

Sometimes we see part of our own self (projection)

The Three Goals (by David Budbill)

The first goal is to see the thing itself in and for itself, to see it simply and clearly for what it is. No symbolism, please.

The second goal is to see each individual thing as unified, as one, with all the other ten thousand things. In this regard, a little wine helps a lot.

The third goal is to grasp the first and the second goals, to see the universal and the particular, simultaneously. Regarding this one, call me when you get it.

The RJ Umbrella

Restorative Circle Principles

Conflict is healthy, not dangerous

Three parties to every conflict

The community owns the conflict

Solutions require true understanding

Dialog is the pathway to understanding

What’s dialogue?

A conversation between equals with an unknown destination

People truly listening to people truly speaking ~ Harrison Owen

Since storytelling is a dialogue, shared stories create more understanding; bring people closer together as a community; and serve as a string that binds one heart to another (I believe that the universe is made up of string). ~ Peninnah Schram

An enemy is someone whose story we have not heard ~ Gene Hoffman

Why dialogue?

To share knowledge and information

To present (and promote consideration of) alternative perspectives

To reduce prejudice by

examining similarities of experience and, in so doing, breaking through the surface tension created by difference

examining differences of experience and, in so doing, breaking through the surface niceties created by superficial sameness

engaging in meaningful inquiry into relations between self and others, especially in context of issues of potential conflict (e.g., interracial/interfaith relationships, affirmative action)

A Dialogue Circle (Exercise 1)

Option 1:

What does it mean to you to be a member of your racial group?

Option 2:

When was the first time you became aware of being a person of your particular race?

Option 3:

When has been the most meaningful learning for you this semester?

Option 3:

When Dialogue Turns into Conflict

The Basics

conflict vs painful conflict move towards conflict with goal of understanding listen for (and reflect) the underlying feelings

and needs

Advanced skills Translation Group facilitation

RC Dialog Process

Final Dialogue (Exercise 4)

What did you learn that you can use in your own life?