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© 2018 William A. Bledsoe, PhD
One of the most striking differences between a coercive response to misconduct, and a restorative response has to do with voice. A coercive response suppresses voice. A restorative response invites it.
In a coercive response there are 3 voices: the explicit code or implicit norm, the person interpreting the code/norm and determining a sanction, and the person who acted “out of the norm.”
In this scenario the code is an unspoken voice, ever present, and therefore never questioned. The person in charge uses the account of the “offender”, extracts the necessary information from him/her to determine how the code or norm was transgressed, and applies a sanction/punishment (determined by the code). The account offered by the person who transgressed is used against him/her.
Both the code and the person in charge of interpreting the code are reauthorized. This is how a hierarchy of power is continually re-established. It’s a vertical and self-substantiating system of power-over governance, conflict and behavior control. The code is at the top; the interpreter in the middle; the person who acted out of the norm at the bottom.[1] The interpreter’s role avoids question.
The rules are the rules. I didn’t make them!
-->Read Entire Article at Restorative Way
Excerpt from Announcement at NACRJ website
Last spring during NACRJ's strategic planning meeting, the board determined to write a positioning statement on Historical Harm which is now fully posted on our website. A positioning statement helps NACRJ to 'position' itself within the currents of modern society where ideas and trends present new challanges as well as new opportunities. By defining our association with respect to the theme of historical harm, the NACRJ is able to not only express greater sensitivity to communities affected by long-standing harm, but also able to promote new initiatives that specifcally address historical harm in powerful, constructive, and humane ways.
As a member-driven organization, we certainly invite your thoughts and comments on this issue as we grow in our understandings and responses to historical harm.
What do School-Wide Restorative Practices look like in the real world?
Restorative Justice on The Rise and Living Justice Press are excited and pleased to invite you to this fabulous opportunity to hear from author, educator and RJE (Restorative Justice in Education) expert, Martha Brown, PhD. Her new book, Creating Restorative Schools: Setting Up Schools to Succeed (Living Justice Press), just launched in January and is a significant resource for educators, students, parents and community members who want to learn the nuts and bolts of RJE. In the book you hear from students, teachers and administrators in the Oakland Unified SD who shared their stories with Martha.
Martha is President and Founder of RJAE Consulting, Consulting Services for Social Impact organizations.
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This feature piece by Molly Rowan Leach appeared in the KOSMOS Journal Print Edition, Fall/Winter 2013. The edition's focus was "Cutting Edge Law, Justice, Power and Peace"
"Restorative justice is nothing new—global indigenous peoples and those in peripheral societies have practiced it for ages. It
is critical to understand the essence of restorative justice as an opportunity for all involved, not as a forced system or means to an end. Understanding this also points to the fact that restorative processes and systems bring an equanimity and power back to the people, to the communities, to those directly affected when conflict and harm occur.
Conflict, harm and suffering are basic elements of living within the earthly dimension. There is a great transformation occurring in the Western world, guided by global traditions and practices, that is influencing not only our choice in how we respond to harm and imbalance but also how we see the incredibly important choice we all have in front of us—"
