August 1, 2006

Mediation: A Restorative Justice Practice

Two Different Views

Criminal Justice Crime is a violation of the law and state. Violations create guilt. Justice requires the state to determine blame and impose punishment. Central focus: offenders getting what they deserve.

Restorative Justice Crime is a violation of people and relationships. Violations create obligations. Justice involves victims, offenders, and community members in an effort to put things right. Central focus: victim needs and offender responsibility for repairing harm.

In The Little Book of Restorative Justice, Zehr compares the principles that guide criminal justice to those of restorative justice.

The first Victim Offender Reconciliation Program in the United States was directed by 2006 Community of Christ International Peace Award recipient Howard Zehr in the 1970s. Zehr reports that victims and offenders have been far more satisfied that justice was done with this type of cooperative, problem-solving approach than those whose matters were handled through traditional court processes.

Zehr is a pioneer in the restorative justice field. He will receive the Community of Christ International Peace Award during the Peace Colloquy. The presentation and worship will be webcast live at www.CofChrist.org at 7:30 p.m. central time on October 27.

Unique Empathy
When the son of Raymond and Sherrie Taylor (Waipahu congregation, Hawaii) was sentenced to life in prison, they realized, “This could happen to anyone.” The painful experience was the impetus for them to be trained in the restorative practice of victim-offender mediation, as well as other restorative programs including an institutional alternatives to violence project, and conflict resolution and Listening Circles training through Community of Christ Peacebuilding Ministries.

The family is hopeful there will be opportunities for mediation with victims from the incident in the future. Raymond explained, “Mediation is an important outlet for offenders to express the grief they have for the victims.”

Raymond said, “It was definitely helpful and healing to go through [restorative justice] trainings.” He and Sherrie feel they bring a unique empathy as mediators. “One area that has been overlooked in the criminal justice system in the United States is the offender’s family, which is basically forgotten. …In many ways, we are victims too.”

A St. Louis County policeman role plays with Annette Meyhew and Winifred Pippin during a conflict resolution skills workshop.

Restorative Lifestyle
Dorcas Wilkinson (Bel-Nor congregation, Missouri) volunteers as a mediator for her county. She said, “Victim-offender mediation is where your eyes are opened and your heart is filled.” When she got involved in restorative justice, she went all out.

Dorcas took seriously the challenge to high priests to get into peace and justice. She made a decision to change her entire life, leaving a 30-plus-year nursing career to become director of the Community Mediation Center-Natural Bridge. The center works with various municipalities to help neighbors resolve disputes over everything from boundary lines to clearing trash. “It’s preventative—pre-restorative justice. No one is a victim according to the law, but everyone feels like a victim.”

Dorcas confessed, “I didn’t know what restorative justice was when I started.” But a volunteer she met at the Mennonite Peace Center talked about it, prompting her to read Zehr’s Changing Lenses: A New Focus for Crime and Justice (Herald Press, 1990). “It was a good eye opener for me,” she said. “It has been a total lifestyle change that started with how I communicate with others, with my family—how I listen to them.”

Family Group Conferences
Kelly Phipps (Lincoln congregation, Nebraska) also serves as a mediation center director. His center facilitates a restorative justice model for family group conferencing. Cases in which children could be removed for abuse or neglect are referred to the center, which serves as a neutral facilitator to bring together parents, extended family, the department of health and human services, and others who can be involved in the child’s life such as teachers, counselors, scout leaders, and clergy.

With input from all of these areas, the family is helped to come up with a plan to care for the child(ren). Kelly explained, “It’s restorative because the goal is not to punish, but to provide resources and assistance to create a system of support.”

Formerly an attorney, Kelly wanted a career in law where he could help people find solutions for themselves. “In this scenario, families have a lot of say in what happens with their children. It gives them opportunities to try to make things right themselves instead of having it imposed by a third party.”

The experience of being involved with people who are attracted to mediation has been spiritually fulfilling for Kelly. “Those who are attracted to mediation are so passionately committed to helping people find a better way of relating to the world. I’ve found a community of peacemakers that transcends denomination,” he said.

—Kendra Friend reporting

The 2006 Peace Colloquy, October 27–29, will focus on restorative justice and prison ministry. Contact your pastor or visit www.CofChrist.org/PeaceColloquy/ for details and online registration.

August 2006 Community of Christ Herald Vol. 153 No. 8