Transformative and Restorative Justice
American society was founded with a commitment to justice. This commitment is seen in our Declaration of Independence. It is further developed in the Bill of Rights and in the Constitution of the United States of America. Our history has been that of the broadening out of the justice principles enshrined in these documents. Still, we continue to wrestle with the question of what is justice.
The global growth of interest in restorative justice has taken root in some locations of the world as justice and new forms of community have been sought following the end of colonialism. The discovery or rediscovery in some national settings, of traditional ways of dealing with crime and community harm has been a stimulus to restorative justice thinking. Restorative justice challenges what many have come to believe is the abstract nature of our legal system and its often retributive cast. Restorative justice has come to mean viewing crime, or harm done, through “a different lens” in the words of Howard Zehr.
• What is Restorative Justice?
• Restorative Justice Field Education Sites:
Examples of BTI Field Education Sites under this category:
- ACI Prison Ministry, Cranston, RI
Chaplaincy and volunteer programs within the 9 facilities of the Rhode Island Department of Correction that include worship services, Houses of Healing, Boundaries for Healthy Relationships, Cirgles of Hope, and Bible Drama. (Separate ex-offender program www.theblessingway.org)
- Alternatives to Violence (AVP)
To empower people to lead nonviolent lives through affirmation, respect for all, community building, cooperation, and trust.
- Concord Prison Outreach
The Mission of Concord Prison Outreach is to initiate, support and coordinate volunteer involvement in educational programming at the two prisons located in Concord: MCI-Concord and the Northeastern Correctional Center (NCC).
- Refugee Immigration Ministry (RIM)
To serve the needs of asylum seekers and those detained by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service through social services, spiritual care, and advocacy.
- Roca Roca is a multicultural human development and community building organization based in Chelsea and serving the communities of Chelsea, Revere, East Boston and Lynn, Massachusetts.
• The Center for Restorative Justice
• Prison Fellowship International
• JUSTPEACE, a program of the United Methodist Church linked to the BTI and to Boston University School of Theology
• A Sample of Current Literature on Restorative Justice
• BTI Booklets on “Transforming and Restorative Justice and the Churches"
- “Creating Healing Environments in Prisons”
By Carol Anderson Peters.
• Courses in Transforming and Restorative Justice
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