As my daughter moves through the primary school where I'm also a governor, I’m becoming increasingly aware of the challenges of imposing discipline positively and constructively in a school environment, while also addressing the concerns of parents whose children have been affected by problematic behaviour.
In May 2001, Christopher Donovan and his brother Philip were on a night out together when they were attacked by a gang of youths. Philip was beaten unconscious, and when Christopher tried to help him, he was pulled to the ground and repeatedly kicked in the head. He was then left unconscious in the middle of a four-lane road, where he was hit by a car and dragged for forty feet.
At the RJC, our vision is that everyone should live in a genuinely restorative society. But what would this really mean in practice? Would it be like everyone moving to Hull (figuratively at least), probably the best known restorative city? Or is there more to it than that?
The RJC would like to congratulate Surrey Youth Restorative Intervention, part of Surrey Youth Support Service and Surrey Police, which received the Howard League Restorative Justice Community Award at an award ceremony in London this week.
I was pushing my 99-year-old mother in her wheelchair just outside the sheltered accommodation block where she lives. Her handbag, which had her purse in it, was slung over the arm of the wheelchair. All of a sudden I was pushed to one side and this boy snatched the handbag and ran off.
Last week, I was lucky enough to be invited by Prison Fellowship to attend a session of their Sycamore Tree programme. It was a fascinating insight into the work that they do with prisoners and a great opportunity to discuss with prisoners what they thought that they had got from the course.
SAFE! Support for Young People Affected by Crime is an Oxford based charity that has recently been awarded a three year contract by the Police and Crime Commissioner to expand its services for young victims of crime across the Thames Valley. Victim Support and Thames Valley Partnership will be working with SAFE! to support the expansion of the service across the region. We are seeking to recruit exceptional people to join the team at this exciting time and are looking for four senior practitioners:
This research paper examined the impact of face to face restorative justice conferences on the post-traumatic stress symptoms of crime victims. The research shows that post-traumatic stress symptoms are significantly lower among victims who participate in restorative justice than victims who did not participate.
