{"id":55,"date":"2009-04-20T13:39:31","date_gmt":"2009-04-20T18:39:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/blog\/restorative-justice\/?p=55"},"modified":"2009-04-23T10:33:50","modified_gmt":"2009-04-23T15:33:50","slug":"restorative-justice-and-peacebuilding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/restorative-justice\/2009\/04\/20\/restorative-justice-and-peacebuilding\/","title":{"rendered":"Restorative justice and peacebuilding"},"content":{"rendered":"

As my colleague Lisa Schirch suggests in The Little Book of Strategic Peacebuilding<\/em><\/a>, here at CJP we use the term peacebuilding as an umbrella concept to include many fields of activity that contribute to just and peaceful societies. <\/span>Colleague Barry Hart uses a wheel diagram to illustrate this. Each segment or spoke is a way of supporting the peacebuilding hub. <\/span>The ultimate goal is a just and peaceful society in which conflicts that naturally occur are handled in a healthy way.<\/p>\n

Here is Barry Hart’s diagram:<\/p>\n

\"(See<\/a><\/p>\n

We use the term \u201cpeacebuilding<\/em>\u201d instead of \u201cpeacemaking\u201d because conflicts arise from specific contexts. <\/span>To address conflicts and build peaceful communities, we have to understand the contexts that lead to conflict and create contexts that promote peace. <\/span>As John Paul Lederach, our founding director, says, it takes as long to end a conflict as it does to create it. <\/span>True peace requires us not to just make peace by ending conflicts but to build an infrastructure for peace.<\/p>\n

We use the term conflict \u201ctransformation\u201d<\/em> rather than \u201cresolution\u201d to remind ourselves that conflict is normal and can often be an opportunity for growth. <\/span>Again, it is important to analyze and address the relational and institutional context in which conflict occurs and to encourage healthy contexts in which conflict is manageable and furthers learning and renewal. <\/span>(A slogan, then: <\/span>\u201cConflict is opportunity. <\/span>Don\u2019t waste it.\u201d)<\/p>\n

CJP is organized around three central fields: <\/span>trauma awareness and healing, conflict transformation and restorative justice. Several other auxiliary fields include healthy organizations and community development. <\/span>Each of these, as well as other peacebuilding efforts, is connected to the hub of Barry\u2019s wheel. <\/span>Each is about building, maintaining and mending healthy and just relationships. <\/span><\/em>Each has their own contributions to make toward this goal.<\/p>\n

Restorative justice\u2019s contributions to the peacebuilding field, it seems to me, are these:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

1) <\/span><\/span>A recognition that questions of justice and injustice are central to conflict and must be addressed if we are to manage conflict and build peaceful communities.<\/p>\n

2) <\/span><\/span>A relational understanding of wrongdoing that focuses on the impact on people and relationships rather than rules.<\/p>\n

3) <\/span><\/span>A set of principles to guide us when a harm or wrong has occurred. <\/span>Put simply, these might be called reparation, accountability and engagement.<\/p>\n

4) <\/span><\/span>A group of specific practices that, although they use some skill sets similar to those for conflict resolution, allow us to name and address the harms involved and the resulting obligations. <\/span>These include victim offender conferencing, family or restorative group conferencing and \u2013 perhaps most powerful and widely applicable – circle processes. <\/span>(The latter are increasingly being used not only to address specific wrongs but also for community decision-making and development.)<\/p>\n

5) <\/span><\/span>An explicit grounding in core values that not only guide the processes but are fundamental for healthy relationships. <\/span>While a number of values are often named, I often identify these core values as three \u201cR\u2019s\u201d – respect, responsibility and relationships.<\/p>\n

To summarize restorative justice as a way of addressing wrongdoing, we might put it in a series of \u201cthrees:\u201d<\/p>\n

3 assumptions <\/em>underlie restorative justice:<\/p>\n