In a recent blog entry, a conservative blogger in the United Kingdom calls for more attention to restorative justice. Citing a speech by conservative MP Alan Duncan, the blogger suggests that restorative justice may be more than a way to reduce the revolving door or “carousel” of prison; indeed, it could have substantial benefits for [...]

“From the vantage point of the colonized, a position from which I write, and choose to privilege, the term “research” is inextricably linked to European imperialism and colonialism.  The word itself, ‘research,’ is probably one of the dirtiest words in the indigenous world’s vocabulary.  When mentioned in many indigenous contexts, it stirs up silence, it [...]

Social Work and Restorative Justice:  Skills for Dialogue, Peacemaking and Reconciliation, edited by Elizabeth Beck, Nancy P. Kropf and Pamela Blume-Leonard (Oxford University Press, 2011), is an important collection of essays on this subject. It will be of interest to both social work and restorative justice practitioners.  The following is the Afterword that Lorraine Stutzman [...]

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If you want to read about conflict resolution, you have an abundance of choices.  Similarly, there is a large and rapidly growing literature on restorative justice, on non-violent activism and on peacemaking in general.   Numerous books analyze violence and its roots as well as the dynamics of power and privilege.   Few attempt to bring these [...]

In previous posts I have discussed ways photography often contributes to “othering” and, conversely, the power it has to bring people together.  A new organization, the International Guild of Visual Peacemakers, began as a group of photographers and designers “devoted to peacemaking & breaking down stereotypes by displaying the beauty of cultures around the world.”  [...]

Restorative justice (RJ) is often associated with mediation and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).  I was reminded of this at the Conference of the European Forum for Restorative Justice in Bilbao, Spain, this spring.  Victim offender “mediation” was the practice most commonly mentioned and the lines between ADR and restorative justice often seemed unclear. Confusion about [...]

Like many communities, my own is facing a crisis in jail capacity resulting in pressures to build a larger institution. I was recently asked to serve on a local symposium panel about this issue but the report in the local paper did not accurately represent my emphasis. So I will lay it out and amplify [...]

In my previous entry I noted that Philip Zimbardo, in his book The Lucifer Effect, suggests “A Ten-step Program to Resist Unwanted Influences.” Because this has generated interest I will list his 10 steps below.  These are in the form of personal commitments. For his explanation of each see pp. 451-456. 1.  “I made a [...]

Philip Zimbardo’s 2007 book, The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil, provides an in-depth description and evaluation of his 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment. To study the dynamics of prison, this famous experiment randomly assigned college student to be guards or inmates in a mock prison. Within a very short time the project had [...]