Overview

Articles discussing restorative justice in prison generally. These will address many of the topics given in this section.

Can prisoners also be victims? Promoting injustice through legislation: by Kim Workman Last week’s introduction of the Prisoners' and Victims' Claims (Expiry and Application Dates) Amendment Bill, brings to mind one of the most shameful incidents in the history of New Zealand’s prison system. As Head of Prisons at the time, it gives me no great pleasure to reflect on the incident and the subsequent political response to it. In January 1993, three young prisoners at Mangaroa (now Hawkes Bay) prison were systematically beaten and tortured by prison officers. They held the young men naked in outside exercise yards, and used hit squads to repeatedly beat them over a three day period. The prisoners were initially denied access to medical support for injuries which included bruising and cracked bones.
Crowded prisons endanger workers, union says: from Joe Davidson's column in the Washington Post: "BOP prisons have become increasingly dangerous places to work, primarily because of serious correctional officer understaffing and prison inmate overcrowding problems," Phil Glover, a union official, told a congressional panel Tuesday. The inmate-to-staff ratio is more than one-third greater than it was in 1997, federal figures show.
Rethinking US prison policy: I: Part of an ongoing series of news and articles about a potentially significant revision of US prison policy. This one is from the New Mexico Independent: "Prison reform back on Richardson’s agenda"
Littlechild, Brian. Conflict resolution, restorative justice, approaches and bullying in young people residential units.: Restorative justice has been an increasing feature in the discourses within adult and youth justice criminal justice systems in recent years. This article examines interpersonal conflicts arising from crime, bullying and antisocial behaviour in residential care, and the advantages and disadvantages of utilising such approaches in relation to these forms of conflict, based upon an evaluation of restorative principles and approaches from the perspectives of young people, residential workers and managers. The article sets out how the staff in the units studied modified restorative justice approaches to take into account the specific relationships within group care settings. (author's abstract)
Penal Reform International. Manual de Buena Practica Penitenciaria: implementacion de las reglas minimas de naciones unidas para el tratamiento de los reclusos: abstract unavailable
Parker, Lynette. Book Review: The Little Book of Restorative Justice for People in Prison: Restorative justice is often implemented in community settings. In this short book, Barb Toews discusses its application when the offender has been imprisoned.
Stern, Vivien. Restorative Practices in Prison - A Review of the Literature: Stern notes that the literature on restorative justice is wide ranging, but that certain common principles emerge. These include the focus on the relationship between the perpetrator and the victim, satisfaction for the victim within a framework of reconciliation and forgiveness, and accountability and restoration for the offender. Also, restorative justice is increasingly being brought to bear on imprisonment itself. The application of restorative justice principles in prison is seen as having several elements: offender awareness of the impact on the victim; restorative activities in prison; restorative principles and processes for conflict resolution in prison; and community relationships for reintegration of released offenders. In this paper, Stern summarizes and analyzes literature on restorative efforts in prisons concerning victims and the impact crime has on them.
Dinsdale, Jennifer. Restorative Justice in HM Prison Holme House: A Research Paper: The International Centre for Prison Studies initiated the Restorative Prison Project to examine the conceptual framework for imprisonment and to work with the Prison Service in Great Britain to apply restorative principles in the prison setting. One site for this work is HM Prison Holme House in northeast England. In 2001 Jennifer Dinsdale, a graduate student unaffiliated with the Restorative Prison Project, conducted research into the feasibility of restorative schemes in Holme House. She looked particularly at prisoners’ perceptions of the impact of their crimes on their victims, the openness of prisoners to engaging in reparative activities, and prisoners’ perspectives on their relationship to the community outside the prison. This paper reports her research findings.
Harman, Alan. "Room With a View: An ‘Open’ Prison in the Swiss Alps.": Strafansalt Saxerriet is Switzerland's only "open" prison. There are no walls; and inmates, sentenced for offenses that range from drunk driving to murder, wear their own clothes and work under the supervision of unarmed prison staff. The all-male prison has a capacity of 118 inmates and usually operates at or near this capacity. After conviction, an offender undergoes a selection process. There is an authorized staff limit of 90, but the facility usually operates with 46 full-time and 35 part-time staff. Just 15 of the staff are in security positions. The rest include social workers, instructors, and specialist supervisors. The facility operates as a business with two divisions, industrial and agricultural. The facility competes for contracts on the basis of quality rather than pricing. Prices are commensurate with those of outside competing businesses. Outside businesses view the prison operation as just another business competitor. Inmate pay is based on productivity. After inmates enter Saxerriet, they are assigned to a work post and can become qualified or obtain apprenticeships in such skills as printing and book binding, metal work, mechanics, computer-aided design, butcher, and operating equipment that ranges from a fork lift to heavy machinery. Several months before an inmate leaves the prison, he is allowed to work outside, but must return to the prison at night. Although the recidivism rate for all of Switzerland is 60 percent, the rate for Saxerriet is 40 percent, the lowest in the country.
Coyle, Andrew. "Restorative justice in the prison setting.": For many years a prison governor in Scotland and England, Coyle addresses the issue of restorative justice in the prison setting from considerable personal experience. On this basis, he discusses the reality of the prison today, particularly rates of incarceration and various attitudes toward imprisonment in societies. This leads him to ask what should be the vision for the future concerning prisons. In response he sketches restorative justice principles and practices, and suggests ways to apply them comprehensively to the operation and management of a prison.
Hilde Verhoeven and Verstraete, Anneli and Inge Vandeurzen and Hilde Verhoeven. Introducing restorative justice in Belgian prisons: The authors describe a pilot project in Belgium with restorative purposes: the aim of the project is to enable prisoners to take responsibility for their acts and address the conflict between them and their victims. Hence, the project focuses on changing the prison mentality, or the prevailing prison culture. The authors summarize recent changes in society and in criminological theory and practice that provided the background for the project, and they highlight key characteristics of the project.
Liebmann, Marian and Braithwaite, Stephanie. Restorative Justice in Custodial Settings: Report for the Restorative Justice Working Group in Northern Ireland.: The authors remark that although there is as yet no comprehensive literature on Restorative Justice in custodial settings, this report demonstrates the range of activities already being practised. Of all the countries covered in this report, only Belgium carries out restorative justice policy in a custodial setting as a result of national policy. Initiatives elsewhere are carried out by a wide range of interested and dedicated individuals or groups such as prison officers, prison governors, probation officers, psychologists, boards of visitors, chaplains or citizens. As can be seen in the report, a variety of RJ processes can be carried out at different stages of a prison sentence and in a variety of prison procedures, e.g., adjudications, parole hearings and complaints.
Toews, Barb. "The Little Book of Restorative Justice for People in Prison:Rebuilding the Web of Relationships": The Little Book of Restorative Justice for People in Prison is one of a series of short books designed to provide readers with quick, easy to understand discussions of issues related to restorative justice and peacemaking. In this 91 page volume, Barb Toews discusses restorative justice from the point of view of someone working with incarcerated people. She discusses restorative justice theory and practices, meeting the justice needs of all those affected by crime, and the place of restorative justice in the prison setting.
Biermans, Nadia. Restorative justice and the prison system: For about two years now, Nadia Biermans, along with others, has been trying to apply restorative justice ideas and practices in Flemish prisons. Based on her experiences, in this paper she raises some questions and makes certain observations about restorative justice in the prison system. She begins by explaining how restorative justice in Belgian prisons began and how it is organized. This leads to discussion of the question of whether restorative justice has a place in prison, the issue of educating and persuading the wider public about restorative justice, and successful ingredients for introducing restorative justice in prisons.
Hagemann, Otmar. Restorative justice in prison?: According to Ottmar Hagemann, programs that could be classified as forms of restorative justice are currently being implemented in prisons in various countries. In this vein, Belgium has recently introduced what are called restorative justice consultants. One works in every prison in Belgium. Yet, inquires Hagemann, is the concept of restorative justice compatible with imprisonment? Hagemann explores the question by discussing abolitionism (advocacy for the elimination of prisons in favor of alternative forms of conflict resolution), restorative justice and abolitionism, the scope of restorative justice in terms of what crimes are and can be addressed, empirical evidence with respect to an in-prison program focusing on offender empathy for victims, and links between restorative justice theory and actual practice in prison settings.
Editor. A Model for Good Prison Farm Management in Africa: In most prison services throughout Africa, the main expense aside from staff salaries is food for the prison ration which is invariably purchased from outside contractors. The funds allocated for these rations are often only sufficient for one meal per day which is inadequate both in terms of quantity and quality. Again, most prison services in Africa have access to substantial areas of land, but this land is either unproductive or under-producing. Farm managers are constrained by lack of resources. If Prisons come low down the list of government spending priorities, Farms appear low down the list of Prison budgeting priorities. This document provides a framework for Prison Services to consider in seeking ways to improve productivity in their prison farms that are: cost-effective; sustainable; and rights-based. The framework is drawn from farming and management practices in eastern and southern Africa and PRI's experience on the continent. It is not a blueprint, but illustrative of what can be done to maximise profitability with scarce resources. (excerpt)
Van Ness, Daniel. W. “Restorative Justice in Prisons”: Most restorative programmes take place outside prison. There are several reasons for this. One is that it is far easier for offenders to make amends if they are not in prison. Another reason is that restorative justice is often communitybased, which means that the programmes work with victims and offenders in the community. A third reason has been the hope of policy makers that restorative justice will be a method of reducing court and prison overcrowding. It may actually contribute to that if the people sent to restorative programmes would otherwise have gone to prison. However, there have also been efforts to explore how restorative justice might fit into the context of a prison, and further, whether it would be possible to conceive of a restorative prison regime – one based fully on restorative principles and values. There are at least four ways these efforts have started.

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Navigation Prison Cell Overview Victim Awareness and Empathy Programmes Making Amends in Prison Victim-Offender Dialogue Conflict Resolution Transformation Programmes Preparation for Release Prison-Community Relations Examples Issues Prison Moratorium/Abolition Parole	Info Overview Articles discussing restorative justice in prison generally. These will address many of the topics given in this section. Can prisoners also be victims? Promoting injustice through legislation by Kim Workman Last week’s introduction of the Prisoners' and Victims' Claims (Expiry and Application Dates) Amendment Bill, brings to mind one of the most shameful incidents in the history of New Zealand’s prison system. As Head of Prisons at the time, it gives me no great pleasure to reflect on the incident and the subsequent political response to it. In January 1993, three young prisoners at Mangaroa (now Hawkes Bay) prison were systematically beaten and tortured by prison officers. They held the young men naked in outside exercise yards, and used hit squads to repeatedly beat them over a three day period. The prisoners were initially denied access to medical support for injuries which included bruising and cracked bones. Crowded prisons endanger workers, union says from Joe Davidson's column in the Washington Post: "BOP prisons have become increasingly dangerous places to work, primarily because of serious correctional officer understaffing and prison inmate overcrowding problems," Phil Glover, a union official, told a congressional panel Tuesday. The inmate-to-staff ratio is more than one-third greater than it was in 1997, federal figures show. Rethinking US prison policy: I Part of an ongoing series of news and articles about a potentially significant revision of US prison policy. This one is from the New Mexico Independent: "Prison reform back on Richardson’s agenda" Littlechild, Brian. Conflict resolution, restorative justice, approaches and bullying in young people residential units. Restorative justice has been an increasing feature in the discourses within adult and youth justice criminal justice systems in recent years. This article examines interpersonal conflicts arising from crime, bullying and antisocial behaviour in residential care, and the advantages and disadvantages of utilising such approaches in relation to these forms of conflict, based upon an evaluation of restorative principles and approaches from the perspectives of young people, residential workers and managers. The article sets out how the staff in the units studied modified restorative justice approaches to take into account the specific relationships within group care settings. (author's abstract) Penal Reform International. Manual de Buena Practica Penitenciaria: implementacion de las reglas minimas de naciones unidas para el tratamiento de los reclusos abstract unavailable Parker, Lynette. Book Review: The Little Book of Restorative Justice for People in Prison Restorative justice is often implemented in community settings. In this short book, Barb Toews discusses its application when the offender has been imprisoned. Stern, Vivien. Restorative Practices in Prison - A Review of the Literature Stern notes that the literature on restorative justice is wide ranging, but that certain common principles emerge. These include the focus on the relationship between the perpetrator and the victim, satisfaction for the victim within a framework of reconciliation and forgiveness, and accountability and restoration for the offender. Also, restorative justice is increasingly being brought to bear on imprisonment itself. The application of restorative justice principles in prison is seen as having several elements: offender awareness of the impact on the victim; restorative activities in prison; restorative principles and processes for conflict resolution in prison; and community relationships for reintegration of released offenders. In this paper, Stern summarizes and analyzes literature on restorative efforts in prisons concerning victims and the impact crime has on them. Dinsdale, Jennifer. Restorative Justice in HM Prison Holme House: A Research Paper The International Centre for Prison Studies initiated the Restorative Prison Project to examine the conceptual framework for imprisonment and to work with the Prison Service in Great Britain to apply restorative principles in the prison setting. One site for this work is HM Prison Holme House in northeast England. In 2001 Jennifer Dinsdale, a graduate student unaffiliated with the Restorative Prison Project, conducted research into the feasibility of restorative schemes in Holme House. She looked particularly at prisoners’ perceptions of the impact of their crimes on their victims, the openness of prisoners to engaging in reparative activities, and prisoners’ perspectives on their relationship to the community outside the prison. This paper reports her research findings. Harman, Alan. "Room With a View: An ‘Open’ Prison in the Swiss Alps." Strafansalt Saxerriet is Switzerland's only "open" prison. There are no walls; and inmates, sentenced for offenses that range from drunk driving to murder, wear their own clothes and work under the supervision of unarmed prison staff. The all-male prison has a capacity of 118 inmates and usually operates at or near this capacity. After conviction, an offender undergoes a selection process. There is an authorized staff limit of 90, but the facility usually operates with 46 full-time and 35 part-time staff. Just 15 of the staff are in security positions. The rest include social workers, instructors, and specialist supervisors. The facility operates as a business with two divisions, industrial and agricultural. The facility competes for contracts on the basis of quality rather than pricing. Prices are commensurate with those of outside competing businesses. Outside businesses view the prison operation as just another business competitor. Inmate pay is based on productivity. After inmates enter Saxerriet, they are assigned to a work post and can become qualified or obtain apprenticeships in such skills as printing and book binding, metal work, mechanics, computer-aided design, butcher, and operating equipment that ranges from a fork lift to heavy machinery. Several months before an inmate leaves the prison, he is allowed to work outside, but must return to the prison at night. Although the recidivism rate for all of Switzerland is 60 percent, the rate for Saxerriet is 40 percent, the lowest in the country. Coyle, Andrew. "Restorative justice in the prison setting." For many years a prison governor in Scotland and England, Coyle addresses the issue of restorative justice in the prison setting from considerable personal experience. On this basis, he discusses the reality of the prison today, particularly rates of incarceration and various attitudes toward imprisonment in societies. This leads him to ask what should be the vision for the future concerning prisons. In response he sketches restorative justice principles and practices, and suggests ways to apply them comprehensively to the operation and management of a prison. Hilde Verhoeven and Verstraete, Anneli and Inge Vandeurzen and Hilde Verhoeven. Introducing restorative justice in Belgian prisons The authors describe a pilot project in Belgium with restorative purposes: the aim of the project is to enable prisoners to take responsibility for their acts and address the conflict between them and their victims. Hence, the project focuses on changing the prison mentality, or the prevailing prison culture. The authors summarize recent changes in society and in criminological theory and practice that provided the background for the project, and they highlight key characteristics of the project. Liebmann, Marian and Braithwaite, Stephanie. Restorative Justice in Custodial Settings: Report for the Restorative Justice Working Group in Northern Ireland. The authors remark that although there is as yet no comprehensive literature on Restorative Justice in custodial settings, this report demonstrates the range of activities already being practised. Of all the countries covered in this report, only Belgium carries out restorative justice policy in a custodial setting as a result of national policy. Initiatives elsewhere are carried out by a wide range of interested and dedicated individuals or groups such as prison officers, prison governors, probation officers, psychologists, boards of visitors, chaplains or citizens. As can be seen in the report, a variety of RJ processes can be carried out at different stages of a prison sentence and in a variety of prison procedures, e.g., adjudications, parole hearings and complaints. Toews, Barb. "The Little Book of Restorative Justice for People in Prison:Rebuilding the Web of Relationships" The Little Book of Restorative Justice for People in Prison is one of a series of short books designed to provide readers with quick, easy to understand discussions of issues related to restorative justice and peacemaking. In this 91 page volume, Barb Toews discusses restorative justice from the point of view of someone working with incarcerated people. She discusses restorative justice theory and practices, meeting the justice needs of all those affected by crime, and the place of restorative justice in the prison setting. Biermans, Nadia. Restorative justice and the prison system For about two years now, Nadia Biermans, along with others, has been trying to apply restorative justice ideas and practices in Flemish prisons. Based on her experiences, in this paper she raises some questions and makes certain observations about restorative justice in the prison system. She begins by explaining how restorative justice in Belgian prisons began and how it is organized. This leads to discussion of the question of whether restorative justice has a place in prison, the issue of educating and persuading the wider public about restorative justice, and successful ingredients for introducing restorative justice in prisons. Hagemann, Otmar. Restorative justice in prison? According to Ottmar Hagemann, programs that could be classified as forms of restorative justice are currently being implemented in prisons in various countries. In this vein, Belgium has recently introduced what are called restorative justice consultants. One works in every prison in Belgium. Yet, inquires Hagemann, is the concept of restorative justice compatible with imprisonment? Hagemann explores the question by discussing abolitionism (advocacy for the elimination of prisons in favor of alternative forms of conflict resolution), restorative justice and abolitionism, the scope of restorative justice in terms of what crimes are and can be addressed, empirical evidence with respect to an in-prison program focusing on offender empathy for victims, and links between restorative justice theory and actual practice in prison settings. Editor. A Model for Good Prison Farm Management in Africa In most prison services throughout Africa, the main expense aside from staff salaries is food for the prison ration which is invariably purchased from outside contractors. The funds allocated for these rations are often only sufficient for one meal per day which is inadequate both in terms of quantity and quality. Again, most prison services in Africa have access to substantial areas of land, but this land is either unproductive or under-producing. Farm managers are constrained by lack of resources. If Prisons come low down the list of government spending priorities, Farms appear low down the list of Prison budgeting priorities. This document provides a framework for Prison Services to consider in seeking ways to improve productivity in their prison farms that are: cost-effective; sustainable; and rights-based. The framework is drawn from farming and management practices in eastern and southern Africa and PRI's experience on the continent. It is not a blueprint, but illustrative of what can be done to maximise profitability with scarce resources. (excerpt) Van Ness, Daniel. W. “Restorative Justice in Prisons” Most restorative programmes take place outside prison. There are several reasons for this. One is that it is far easier for offenders to make amends if they are not in prison. Another reason is that restorative justice is often communitybased, which means that the programmes work with victims and offenders in the community. A third reason has been the hope of policy makers that restorative justice will be a method of reducing court and prison overcrowding. It may actually contribute to that if the people sent to restorative programmes would otherwise have gone to prison. However, there have also been efforts to explore how restorative justice might fit into the context of a prison, and further, whether it would be possible to conceive of a restorative prison regime – one based fully on restorative principles and values. There are at least four ways these efforts have started. Document Actions RSS feed Send this Print this	Africa Asia Europe Latin America Middle East North America and Caribbean Pacific Search 9932 publications on restorative justice Recent RJOB Comments Oakland as a RJ city? Jul 29, 2010 Trauma Jul 29, 2010 Psych Reports to BPT board Jul 29, 2010 More… Slide Show: What is Restorative Justice Click to view a slideshow discussing the definition of restorative justice. Jul 21, 2010 Promoting Restorative Justice in Panama Jul 28, 2010 Raising Community Awareness in Swaziland Jul 28, 2010 Exploring alternatives in Finland Jul 28, 2010 PF Rwanda Receives Grant for Reconciliation Work Jun 27, 2010 Restorative Justice in the Community.