Making Amends in Prison

Repairing harm means making amends. This can be done in many ways, ranging from an apology to a financial settlement. Articles on the variety of ways prisoners can make amends to their victims and to the community while they are in prison.

Wilkinson, Reginald A. The Impact of Community Service Work on Adult State Prisoners Using a Restorative Justice Framework

This study is an analysis of the impact of community service work assignment on recidivism of Ohio adult state prisoners. The primary research question posed asks, do prisoners who participate in community service work return to prison less often than those who did not have any community service work experience? The other three research questions ask: does it make a difference with respect to the number of hours of community service work an inmate might accumulate; does participation in community service makes a difference in terms of the length of time between release and return to prison; and lastly, do community service participants return to prison for less serious violations compared to offenders who do not participate in community service work? The restorative justice paradigm is the theoretical underpinning for this research. This restorative model stresses community participation, victim reparation, and offender rehabilitation as a holistic approach to crime prevention and community/victim restoration. This study furthermore proposes that the educational foundations philosophy supports the restorative justice model because of its concentration on community participation in pedagogy and educational development, in this case for offenders. Author's abstract.

Khoza, V. I. and Potgieter, P. J. and Cilliers, C. H. and Khoza, V. I. and Michell, L. J. and Potgieter, P. J.. Correctional Officers' Perceptions of Restorative Justice

The contemporary criminal justice model has focused heavily on retribution and on the punitive punishment of offenders. Shifts have been occurring in this dominant criminal justice ideology that push for more restorative models of justice, which involve the active participation of the offender, victim, and community in restoring justice to all parties. An integral part of this process is the acceptance of responsibility by the offender. The current study assessed how correctional officers at seven correctional centers in South Africa perceive aspects of restorative justice. Participants were 401 arbitrarily selected correctional officers, representing all ranks, who completed a closed, structured questionnaire that probed perceptions of restitution, restoration between the offender and victim, rehabilitation, and prison overcrowding. Results are delineated based on gender and rank of responding correctional officer. Overall, the findings suggest support for a restorative justice model, particularly the aspects of monetary compensation for crime victims and the rendering of services by offenders to communities impacted by their offenses. Results also indicate that correctional officers believe a restorative justice model can reduce recidivism and reduce prison overcrowding. Abstract courtesy of National Criminal Justice Reference Service, www.ncjrs.org.

Inside Chowchilla Women's Prison: Locked up, reaching out

 

Workman, Kim. The Future of Restorative Justice – Control, Co-option, and Co-operation

This paper explores the history of restorative justice in New Zealand and lays out a course for the future.

What were they thinking? Horse farms and inmates?

from the blog entry by Peter Hermann on BaltimoreSun.com: It was one of those feel-good programs that come across reporters' desks nearly every day. This was from the state prison system: "Restorative Justice Benefits Women Inmates and Starving Horses." Here's what the news release said: The Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services today added yet another to its growing list of unique restorative justice inmate initiatives, putting a work crew comprised of female inmates at Howard County’s Days End Farm Horse Rescue. The inmates, from the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women (MCI-W) in Jessup, will begin with grounds maintenance and landscaping, and eventually move into equine care. “What we try to do with these restorative justice programs is not only give inmates skills and the chance to pay back the society they’ve harmed, but meaningful projects that really do make a difference in the lives of people -- and in this case, horses,” said DPSCS Secretary Gary Maynard. Only state prison officials forgot to tell the neighbors of the horse farm, as well as the young volunteers who work there. Now, state officials have shut down the program, according to a story by The Baltimore Sun's Larry Carson.

‘Puppies for Parole’ making a difference

from Mark Morris' article in the Kansas City Star: Puppies for Parole, as the Missouri Department of Corrections calls the program, is at work in eight state prisons, where offenders have the time and patience to give dogs from shelters basic obedience training.

Lund, Laurie.. "Restorative justice from prison."

At the time of writing this article, Lund was an inmate in Minnesota. Convicted of a violent crime, she describes her involvement with various restorative justice programs. These include meaningful work both inside and outside of a prison setting, a Speakers Bureau (for inmates to address young people in the community to warn them about the effects of being an offender), and volunteer projects in a local school. She conveys the positive changes in her due to participation in these programs.

International Centre for Prison Studies. "We don't waste prisoners' time and we don't waste bicycles': The impact of restorative work in prisons

In January 2000 the International Centre for Prison Studies launched the Restorative Prison Project. The aims of the project are to review the concepts that shape the use of imprisonment and to work with the Prison Service in Great Britain to explore the possibility of applying restorative principles in the prison setting. This then is a report into the activities in prisons of the Inside Out Trust, an organization that promotes the development of vital links between prisons and the community, as well the development of opportunities for prisoners to do work for the benefit of others. The research in the report deals with the ways in which prisoners and prison staff view the work of the Trust. It also covers the impact of the Trust’s work on the regime of the prisons with which it is associated.

Toews, Barb. Listening to Prisoners Raises Issues about Prison-Based Restorative Justice

In this essay, Barb Toews writes on the basis of her work with prisoners and their families as Restorative Justice Program Manager for the Pennsylvania Prison Society. She reports that many prisoners have spoken of their desires to make amends for the harm they caused and of the lack of resources available to assist them in following through on those desires. The Restorative Justice Program she manages is in fact a direct response to assist prisoners with ways to engage victims and community members about their crimes, to seek restorative and reintegrative processes, and to challenge the prison environment toward a more restorative ideal. The experience of assisting prisoners in these ways enables her to identify in this article the challenges of conceptualizing the application of restorative justice in prison.

Prisoners donating money to Lakewood families

Note: On November 29, 2009, a gunman shot and killed four police officers as they sat eating at a restaurant in Lakewood, Washington. from Eric Wilkinson's report on KING-5 News: It's a cold and unforgiving place - a place you'd expect to find nothing but bitterness and hatred toward police. But at the Monroe State Reformatory, the heartless killings of four Lakewood police officers are softening even the most hardened criminals. "The first thing that went through my mind was, 'oh no, not again'," said triple murderer Tony Wheat, who killed three gas station clerks during robberies 44 years ago and who is serving a life sentence at Monroe. He's part of a prison organization called "Concerned Lifers" where those serving life terms try to mentor young convicts and keep them from reoffending. Wheat says the Lakewood killings shocked many inside the reformatory's walls.

McLean, Rachel L. and Thompson, Michael D.. Summary Report: Repaying Debts.

This summary report, the first of its kind, addresses the various types of debts that people released from prisons and jails typically owe their victims, their families, and various criminal justice agencies. his summary provides an overview of the full report, including highlights of relevant research, policies that should guide an initiative to improve the likelihood that people released from prisons and jails or under criminal justice supervision will meet their court-ordered financial obligations, and practical recommendations for implementing these policies. It also includes examples from a variety of cities, counties, and States that may provide useful ideas for other policymakers to tailor to their jurisdictions. Research shows that many individuals released from prisons or jails have a substantial amount of debt, including supervision fees, court costs, victim restitution, and child support. These individuals typically have insufficient resources to pay their debts; and victims, families, and criminal justice agencies often compete for a share of the small payments these ex-inmates can make. Within units of State and local governments, policies that govern the collection of fines, fees, restitution, and child support often conflict with one another, making it difficult for ex-inmates to meet their financial obligations. Ex-inmates' inability to meet their financial obligations can contribute to their reincarceration based on failure to meet the financial portion of probation supervision requirements. The report recommends that States and localities coordinate, and ideally integrate, agencies' policies, procedures, and information systems so that the fines, fees, surcharges, and restitution orders for each person sentenced to prison or jail are consolidated. Child support and victim restitution should be prioritized. Child-support enforcement policies should be enacted to encourage ex-inmate parents to maintain legitimate employment that will help them provide long-term support to their children. (Abstract courtesy of the National Criminal Justice Reference Service, www.ncjrs.gov).

Brown-McBride, Suzanne. Enhancing Victim Restitution and Offender Accountability.

For many victims, one meaningful step in mitigating the harm they have endured is to ensure they are paid the restitution they are owed. Having their financial losses (such as damaged property and lost wages) repaid through restitution not only serves to reimburse victims, but also demonstrates that the person who committed the crime is assuming some responsibility for his or her actions. Yet a recent report by the Council of State Governments Justice Center, Repaying Debts, states that victims often fail to receive the restitution they need, in part because state policies effectively result in criminal justice agencies competing with victims for payments from people released from prisons and jails. Other findings from the report support what crime victims and their advocates have long known: that we must change the way we address the collection of all the debts that people released from prison and jail owe if we are to make significant headway in increasing restitution payments. The discussion that follows highlights some of the report's recommendations and the context in which they are made. (excerpt)