What is restorative justice?
Restorative Justice (RJ) provides a framework for addressing and preventing harm that moves beyond punishment towards healing. As a practice, restorative justice processes most commonly bring together people affected by harm in a safe, structured and facilitated way, to talk about what happened, how they were impacted and how the harm can be repaired or addressed. There is no one set way of ‘doing’ restorative justice. Practices are flexible and responsive to individual and community needs.
Howard Zehr (The Little Book of Restorative Justice, 2022) describes RJ as a set of principles and values, and proposes the following 6 guiding questions:
- Who has been hurt?
- What are their needs?
- Whose obligations are these?
- What are the causes?
- Who has a stake in the situation?
- What is the appropriate process to involve stakeholders to address causes and put things right?
Restorative justice differs from the western criminal justice system in the following ways:
| Restorative Justice | VS | Criminal Justice |
|---|---|---|
| Crime and wrongdoing causes harm to individuals and communities. | Crime and wrongdoing is committed against the state and is a violation of law. | |
| Concerned with repairing the harm caused by crime and wrongdoing. | Seeks to determine guilt and impose punishment. | |
| The people most affected by a crime or wrongdoing should be key to the resolution of the harm caused. | Excludes the people impacted from the justice outcome. |
Open Circle restorative justice stages:
Stage 1: Intake with participants
Intake meetings are undertaken with anyone who needs to be involved in the restorative process. If all participants agree to participate, and RJ is assessed as suitable for both participants, Open Circle will proceed to preparation stage. Referrals will only proceed to an RJ process if we are confident that we can address participant needs in ways that are safe and beneficial.
Stage 2: Preparation meetings
Individual preparation meetings commence with each participant and relevant support people. Preparation can take several months, and involves:
- Exploration of the goals, hopes, and interests of the person harmed
- Exploring impacts, needs, and belief systems
- Learning, education, and steps towards accountability for the person responsible
Stage 3: Restorative Dialogue
Open Circle facilitators will support participants to engage in a restorative dialogue, where everyone can share what is important to them in a safe and respectful way. This is a space for healing, accountability, agreement setting, and transformation.
Stage 4: Post-Process Reflections
Open Circle will meet with participants to debrief and reflect on the process.
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Email: open.circle@rmit.edu.au
Phone: 03 9925 7708
