What is Restorative Justice?

 

Restorative Justice Circle Keeping is grounded in a community connection built on trust and values which gives community members the confidence to share the intimate details of their lives, share their stories and get to the root of their community concerns, and make impactful social justice changes. 

 

Restorative Justice supports the emotional intelligence of Black and Brown families who have historically been oppressed. Emotional intelligence is our ability to understand, use, and manage our own emotions in positive ways to relieve stress, communicate effectively, empathize with others, overcome challenges and defuse conflict. 

 

Restorative justice offers constructive responses to wrongdoing by bringing everyone into accountability processes that repair and rebuild relationships Source: Impact Justice

 

"What's fundamental about restorative justice (practices) is a shift away from thinking about laws being broken, who broke the law, and how we punish the people who broke the laws. There's a shift to: there harm caused or there's disagreement or dispute, there's conflict, and how do we repair the harm, address the conflict, meet the needs, so that relationships and community can be repaired and restored. It's a different orientation. It is a shift." Source: Community Justice for Youth Institute, Cheryl Graves

 

What we understand as the "Circle process" has been a part of the community life of Indigenous peoples around the world for millennia. And different Indigenous peoples have their own ways of conducting Circle-type processes. Non-Natives who now use talking Circles have, directly or indirectly, learned Circle values and practices from Indigenous people. The process is endlessly adaptable to different situations and cultures. Non-Native Circle practitioners use elements that are culturally appropriate and comfortable for those in their group. This happens organically. Source: Transform Harm 

 

Simply put, Restorative Justice is a tool for accountability for all of  those who have been impacted by harm, conflict or abuse to move forward in a healthy way…