Faith: An Introduction to Restorative Justice
In Scripture, the prophet Micah 6:8 tells us, “God has shown you, O mortal, what is good, and what the Lord required of you: only to act justly, and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” NIV
What does it mean to act justly? An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth? Make the person who did the wrong feel as bad as the one who was harmed? Martin Luther King, Jr. is quoted as saying, “If we do an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, we will be a blind and toothless nation.” Our current form of Retributive Justice focuses on the law or rule that is broken. This system focuses on punishment. In the US, over two million people are incarcerated. The poor and marginalized are disproportionately among these. To find ‘justice’ in this system, these questions are asked: What law was broken? Who broke it? What do they deserve as punishment?
The person harmed is frequently left out of the whole process. What they need for healing is often assumed or not taken into account at all. Howard Zehr suggests that a different system, Restorative Justice, offers a different set of questions: Who has been hurt? What are their needs? Whose obligations are these? Who has a stake in this situation? What is the appropriate process to involve stakeholders in an effort to put things right?
In his The Little Book of Restorative Justice, Zehr defines Restorative Justice as a process to involve, to the extent possible, those who have a stake in the specific offense and to collectively identify and address harms, needs, and obligations, in order to heal and put things as right as possible. Howard Zehr p. 37 ff Restorative Justice, which has its roots in aboriginal practices, focuses more on teaching and healing. In his book, Returning to the Teachings: Exploring Aboriginal Justice, Rupert Ross tells the story. “I remember, for instance, meeting with a chief, his young council and some elders at a remote Cree First Nation in northwestern Ontario. At one point I asked what the community used to do in the traditional times, before the courts came to those who misbehaved. An old lady answered immediately. Through the interpreter she said, ‘We didn’t do anything to them. We counselled them instead!’ Her emphatic Cree suggested that she couldn’t understand why I would ask such a question,” he explained.
The Restorative Justice process uses a circle arrangement to give each person a voice. In her Circle Keepers Handbook, Kay Pranis suggests that this seating arrangement “allows everyone to see everyone else and be accountable to one another face to face. It creates a sense of focus on a common concern without creating a sense of ‘sides’. A circle emphasizes equality and connectedness.” Even though the circle process was introduced as a way to respond to harm in the justice system, over the years we have discovered that it has a lot of other uses. It is often used as a tool to build community and create safe places for people to share. It can be used in areas such as: In schools as part of the school’s culture; For summer camps or Bible school; As part of a conference or breakout sessions; For family discussions; For celebrations; For holding difficult conversations
For dealing with challenging circumstances, disagreements or disputes; For addressing harm and conflict. Some schools use them to change their entire culture. Morning circles enable the children to check in with how they are that morning. One principal expressed that a young student said to her, “Could we have those circles again? People were a lot nicer to one another.” Once circles are part of the school ethos, In one non-profit organization, a person made an offensive remark that the board did not think was in line with their values and planned to fire the person. One board member suggested using a restorative circle. The person who received the offensive remark was open to the process. A circle was held with the person who made the remark. She expressed regret for her actions and a desire to make amends. She expressed some of her own background that led to the remark and an understanding that the remark was hurtful. A circle was then held with the entire staff. The person apologized for the remark. Other staff expressed that they realized there were other words and phrases used in conversation that could be offensive, and expressed wanting to be more aware of these. Justice was found, the culture of the organization transformed for the better, and all parties were able to move forward in healing.
In one of his daily meditations, Richard Rohr suggests that since God’s nature is love and God is love, then, “God’s justice is in fact total, steadfast love, total unconditional giving love.”
Restorative Justice can aid us in building communities of love where all have a chance to speak. Using Restorative Justice instead of Retributive Justice can bring those who have been involved in the hurtful situation together to create a way to make amends and support healing.