The Network of Restorative Practitioners in Mental Health

About the network

The purpose of this network is to bring communities together to promote mental well-being and recovery for people who have experienced harm as a result of the impact of mental illness.  Poor mental health takes a toll on those who suffer from it but the impact of poor mental health extends to people who are affected by the behaviour of someone with these difficulties, when they commit acts that cause harm to others, be they family, partners, friends, neighbours or members of the public.  It has long been the case that those who experience harm in this way, and those who cause harm as a result of their mental health difficulties, did not have access to the benefits that restorative justice can bring. 

Our guiding principle is that all people who have experienced harm in the context of mental health difficulties, should have access to restorative justice processes.  In order for this to happen, the mental health practitioner community, the criminal justice agencies and the restorative justice practitioner community, need to work together more effectively to understand what is needed and how this can be enabled.  This network is intended to be a platform to enable that dialogue. 

 

You do not need to be a member of the Restorative Justice Council to join this network. To express an interest in joining, please contact gerard.drennan@slam.nhs.uk

 

If you would like to submit open access resources for inclusion in our resources bank, please submit these to communications@restorativejustice.org.uk.

 

 

The locked up living Podcast

Gerard Drennan brings restorative justice to the foreground, illuminated by his experience of Truth and Reconciliation in South Africa.

LISTEN HERE

 

New Resources

Mariëtte van Denderen and Michiel van der Wolf 'Meetings between victims and offenders
suffering from a mental disorder in forensic
mental health facilities: a qualitative exploration
of their subjective experiences'

Dr Gerard Drennan discussion ‘If there is trauma, there will have been harm. We need to attend to it…’

Restorative Justice Applications in Mental Health Settings - Pathways to Recovery and Restitution

International innovations in restorative justice in mental health – next steps for Australia

Contact between victims and offenders in forensic mental health settings: An exploratory study

Restorative practice in a forensic mental health service: three case studies

Entitlements and experiences of victims of mentally disordered offenders

The Psychology of Restorative Practice in Forensic Mental Health Recovery

Trauma and Restorative justice

VIEW ALL RESOURCES

 

Restorative Practice in a Forensic Mental Health Service

Dr Andy Cook

Forensic Healthcare, Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Hellingly, UK

Toni evoked a range of strong responses from the staff team over a period of several years on the ward.  She was vulnerable, hard-working, good humoured, playful, spontaneously violent and also sometimes instrumentally violent.  She was often the subject of staff reflective practice; at times with a proportion of the team wanting to expel her back to prison or a more secure environment and the remainder of the team holding hope and wanting to nurture her.  She had suffered institutional deprivation as a child before being adopted.  She had quasi-autistic traits, in that she struggled to mentalise and had difficulties in social communication and relationships.  Her thinking was very concrete, so when she encountered novel or complex social situations arousing anxiety, she envisaged a palpable threat such as muggers or kidnappers and the prospect of attack.  When emotionally aroused she lashed out.  Other times there was an element of planning to her violence, but this always appeared to be in the context of a prolonged state of feeling unsafe and an overwhelming urge to gain a sense of control over her environment.  When in this aroused state, Toni’s thoughts centred on not appearing ‘weak’ to others.

Toni engaged in individual and group treatment with curiosity and motivation.  Her goal was to ‘be normal’.  She perceived herself to be different from peers in a variety of areas including her violence.  Initially she demonstrated very little reflection or remorse following violent acts.  If challenged she defended her actions.  Over time she progressed from this position, to expressing a desire to control her actions and to live without the need for violence.  She reflected upon the impact of her actions upon others and expressed remorse for harm she caused.  With support, she was able to give a rich account of how trust and human connection can be harmed and broken through violence. 

There was cautious hope and optimism when Toni moved to a ward of lower security. 

Unfortunately Toni’s progress had been fragile and the change of environment, relationships and routine all proved too much for her to tolerate without resorting initially to self-harm and then to violence.  With hindsight and exploration with Toni, we realised that a fast progression of her community leave in an area she did not know contributed to her sense of being unsafe.  Toni attempted to manage her feelings through self-harm but had not yet developed the relationships she needed to be able to talk about her fears.  She was ashamed about not coping.  She did not want to fail and be returned to the ward she had left.  Ironically, as things progressed and she did become violent, there was then an element of her deliberately engineering her return to a place where she felt safe.

READ THE FULL CASE STUDY

 

Restorative Justice in Mental Health Services: Engaging with complexity & vulnerability

Zehr Institue for Restorative Justice

The common sense link between people with mental health needs and the potential value of restorative justice practices has been described in the academic literature in many places. However, this notion has invariably remained at the stage of a good idea in theory, with scarcely any progress into the practical implementation of such practices. This webinar will provide an overview of the initial steps taken to formally embed restorative justice and restorative practices in forensic mental health services in settings in the United Kingdom. Our discussants will describe how restorative approaches have begun to take root in each of their unique contexts, leading to reflections on what has been achieved and the on-going challenges in light of their diverse mental health settings. Cultural factors, as well as wider health economics, service pressures, and societal pressures will be considered.

 

Being Unforgiven: Violent States of Mind and Restorative Justice

Dr Gerard Drennan

Online, evening seminar

Thursday 16th January

7.00pm - 8.30pm

The Forensic Psychotherapy Society is pleased to promote the International Association for Forensic Psychotherapy's online evening seminar on 16th January. Please note that booking and payment will be through the IAFP website.

The growth of restorative justice as a social movement in schools, communities and post-conflict societies has not been mirrored in mental health services. While there is considerable interest in the concept, the actual practical implementation of restorative justice has lagged behind the emotional appeal of the notion of giving a voice to victims and direct accountability for people who cause harm. This may be even more the case for forensic psychotherapy, where there may be a healthy scepticism for performative rituals, with religious connotations of morality and forgiveness, that have an uncertain connection to the development of mature guilt, remorse and the reparation of internal objects. This seminar will explore the emergence of new psychoanalytic thinking on the state of mind of being ‘unforgiven/unforgivable’. This will be linked to empirical evidence from the implementation of restorative justice interventions in forensic mental health settings to invite a psychoanalytic re-consideration of its role in treating violent states of mind.

To watch this seminar, please click here to go to the IAFP booking page, select either IAFP Member or Non-member and pay using a credit or debit card.

 

 

Not a member of the RJC? 

Find out more about our membership options

 

We are immensely grateful to the RJC for hosting this platform to facilitate communication through information sharing, the sharing of resources and problem-solving in order that all the agencies involved develop their capacity to support people in their struggle to recover from the impact of harm