Discovering Balance

Prisons that Restore - the NZ expereince of restorative justice in prisoner transformation and reintegration

Mr Kim Workman (Prison Fellowship New Zealand)

In October 2004, a faith unit was opened at Rimutaka Prison, near Wellington, New Zealand, which promoted peace and reconciliation through a model of conflict resolution and the restoration of community peace. It presented staff and prisoners with the challenge of operating a restorative prison, within the disciplinary framework of a prison. The application of a strengths based prisoner reintegration process, known as 'restorative reintegration' was used once prisoners were released, with a special focus on reintegrating former gang members and their families into the local community school system. The paper explores the role of restorative practise in prisons, and the restoration and reintegration of gang families into their school communities, in order to promote the development of family resilience and social cohesion through the increased involvement of gang and offender families in school and community life.

Session 7, Breakout 7

Date & Time: Friday 3 October (1.30pm)

Location: ECL1

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Post-Restorative Justice: The Integration of Restorative Justice in Prisons

Ms Angelina Pascale (Flinders University)

Considering restorative justice (RJ) from a post-restorative perspective the study promotes the integration of RJ principles and processes into prisons both adult and juvenile, as a post-sentence RJ approach dealing with crime and criminal offenders. In supporting this premise, I analyses how RJ principles and processes can be facilitated within prisons, concluding successful integration is dependent on the ability of the penal system to facilitate change within the traditional custodial paradigm of prisons, by making the paradigm receptive to RJ principles, the aims RJ promotes for offenders and victims and the processes and practices RJ uses to achieve them. Further, I give consideration to international initiatives, particularly those in Belgium and New Zealand where the integration of RJ into prisons has already taken place. These examples are presented through a critical lens, highlighting the benefits and weaknesses of their operation. I conclude the integration of RJ into prisons is desirable, practical and workable and is beneficial to all involved.

Session 7, Breakout 7

Date & Time: Friday 3 October (1.50pm)

Location: ECL1

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Constructive Corrections: rights, community responsibility and restoration.

Dr. Mary-Ann Robinson (Manager, Research & Development, VACRO)

Correctional services have a central role within existing criminal justice systems but should not accept sole responsibility for those in their custody. A throughcare approach suggests that dealing with offenders is a whole-of-community responsibility that begins before sentencing and continues through transition post-release. The community is ultimately responsible for the numbers of persons in custody, the conditions in which they are held and the state in which they are released. Constructive community justice requires a broad, multi-disciplinary approach, acknowledging rights and responsibilities of offenders and victims at each stage of contact with criminal justice systems. The whole process needs transparency and a degree of public scrutiny and debate not common in Australia. The Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities offers an opportunity for thorough review of administrative functions carried out by correctional services on behalf of the community and for broad based implementation of restorative processes at critical transition points.

Session 7, Breakout 7

Date & Time: Friday 3 October (2.10pm)

Location: ECL1

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Promoting restorative justice is a punitive society: A case study from Northern Ireland

Dr. Anna Eriksson (Monash University, Criminology)

Certain communities in Northern Ireland can undoubtedly be described as punitive, characterised by paramilitary violence and vigilantism, a legacy from the conflict which to a degree has continued in the current transition. This paper considers efforts by political ex-prisoners to run restorative justice projects within these communities, with the explicit aim to challenge ingrained cultures of violence. These ex-prisoners, many of them former combatants of the IRA and UVF, have applied a discourse of human rights to such interventions, a discourse which they actively engaged with during the years of conflict, and that is now an integral part of the community based restorative justice projects. These projects engage in the prevention, management, and resolution of crime and conflict at the community level, and this paper will outline this work in more depth, and the leadership provided by ex-prisoners is central to this discussion.

Session 7, Breakout 7

Date & Time: Friday 3 October (2.30pm)

Location: ECL1