Restorative Justice

24 Hour Prison-Based Restorative Justice Seminar

This 24-hour seminar explores the definition of restorative justice and personal, relational and criminal ways to apply it. It is designed to recognize that seminar participants are both people who have committed a crime and people who may have experienced victimization and violence in their own lives and are in need of healing. It encourages participants to consider how to apply restorative justice values, principles and practices in daily life, including within the prison.

Curriculum Overview

Session 1 (2 ½ hours)

1. Orientation and Introductions
2. Pre-seminar survey
3. Begin "Our Community" Role Play

Session 2 (2 ½ hours)

1. "Our Community" Role Play (15 roles that highlight a variety of offenses and victimizations)
2. Overview of restorative justice drawing on the role play and using the image of a "web" to introduce restorative justice

Session 3 (2 ½ hours)

1. Experiences with Crime, Justice and Restoration: Offenders and Their Families
2. Exploration of the experiences of the offenders in the role play
3. Application of material to personal lives of participants

Session 4 (2 ½ hours)

1. Personal Life Journeys
   1. Personal exploration of participants past and present lives, their ups and downs, their offending and victimization
   2. Exploration of steps participants have taken to move forward in their lives and to find personal meaning and healing

Session 5 (2 ½ hours)

1. Experiences with Crime, Justice and Restoration: Victims
   1. Exploration of experiences of victims in role play
   2. Readings and reflection from Transcending: Reflections of Crime Victims by Howard Zehr

Session 6 (2 ½ hours)

1. Restorative Practices - Victim Offender Mediation
   1. Introduction to mediation (video) and discussion
   2. Discussion of mediation services in Pennsylvania

Session 7 (2 ½ hours)

1. Experiences with Crime, Justice and Restoration: Community
   1. Using a restorative process, explore the needs of community members in the role play
   2. Group activity to create plans of action for the community in response to the crimes

Session 8 and 9 (2 ½ hours each)

1. Restorative Justice Programs
   1. Discussion/presentation of restorative programs represented in seminar manual
   2. Exploration of which programs could be applied in prisons
2. Restorative Justice In Prison
   1. Exploration of what restorative justice means for daily life in prison and ways to put into practice within the prison, their families, their friendships, etc.
3. Restorative Justice and Our Personal Journeys
   1. Personal reflection on how the seminar may influence their lives into the future
4. Assignment to practice restorative justice over the next two weeks

Session 10 (2 hours)

1. Discussion of how participants used restorative justice over the past two weeks and how they were encouraged and challenged
2. Post-seminar survey