Th e Problem of Community in a Justice System in Transition: Th e Case of Community Restorative Justice in Northern Ireland (original) (raw)
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Community Restorative Justice In Northern Ireland : Lessons from America Dr
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R:storativejustice is the new 'black' in the criminological world it is the 'in' topic. In essence, it views crime as a breakdown in relationships which require healing rather than a breach of the criminal code which requires retribution. In the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and many other countries restorative justice techniques such as victim-offender mediation, family group conferencing (where often the families of victims and offenders are involved in agreeing a settlement in response to crime), reparation and other strategies have been increasingly employed over the past decade as alternatives to or in parallel with more punishment-focused responses. This heightened interest in restorative responses to crime reflect a widespread disillusionment with the tried and failed n1.ethods of the past which have seen the prisons fill up with little discernible impact on crime rates, or indeed meeting the complex needs and requirements of victims, con1.munities and of...
Policing and Society, 2025
Once considered ‘impossible’, community-based restorative justice (CBRJ) in Northern Ireland has commanded attention and criticism in equal measure for over twenty-five years. While a necessary focus of the country’s transition from conflict to peace has centred upon state-led security processes, including police reform, wider perspectives related to informal policing have remained on the margins. This paper aims to revisit critiques around the ‘impossibility’ of restorative justice, originally considered by McEvoy and Mika 2002. In doing so, the authors attempt to demonstrate that the values and principles of CBRJ have in fact transcended the highly contested and politicised security environment of Northern Ireland. In turn, the operation of a key CBRJ organisation – Community Restorative Justice Ireland – has not merely been ‘possible’ but has acted as a fulcrum for transforming community capital, re-imagining justice ownership, and moving society away from the cultures of violence long associated with Northern Ireland’s past.
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The paradigm of restorative justice seeks to repair harm, increase accountability and further opportunities for rehabilitation. Central to understanding this paradigm is an awareness of the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders in the response to criminal behaviour. These can include victims, offenders and the community. Within restorative discourse, the conceptualization of community has remained vaguely defined. Theoretically, a general consensus exists that community is an important factor within a successful restorative process. Within the Irish adult reparation panel models, based in Dublin, Tipperary and surrounding counties, the concept of community is continually put forward as an important component in attempting to reintegrate and rehabilitate participating offenders. There is, however, little theoretical and practical consensus on what the community concept actually represents. Such confusion has the potential to both dilute underlying restorative values and undermin...
Working across Frontiers- community based restorative justice in Northern Ireland .docx
The reformed Northern Irish state has demonstrated its ability to manage political conflict and violence but it is limited in its potential to transform conflict in intercultural settings. Does this present an opportunity for community based restorative justice? If restorative justice is to be a relevant and appropriate way of approaching conflict in intercultural settings, there needs to be new ways of understanding not only what restorative justice is but also what it means to experience security and justice. Adopting an action research approach, Ulster University in partnership with community organisations in Derry/Londonderry, south Belfast and west Belfast studied restorative processes designed to address the harm caused by conflicts in intercultural contexts in these areas. The research has demonstrated that the principles of restorative justice can contribute to the security and justice experienced by local communities affected by such conflict. The chapter concludes with a model of restorative justice that is based upon a politics that protects and provides for spaces where people can meet and communicate, strengthening a culture of respect for the diversity of human potential, and strengthening relationships on the basis of inclusion, interdependence and participation. Such a model can contribute to restoring the future for a society struggling to move on from the past.
The Third corner and the second pillar: The community and restorative justice in Northern Ireland
ERA Forum, 2002
This work can only be approached in the context of the community, It makes no sense at all to treat an offender as if he had no family, no friends, never went to school or work, never visited the local shops, never played football in the park, never hung out on a particular street comer, never shouted slogans over the peace wall. Similarly, how can you help a victim if you ignore the fact that the boy who broke the window lives in the next street, that his dad drinks in the local pub, that his mum serves in the baker's, that the street lamps in this particular street are broken, that this old lady is now too scared to go to her pensioners' club around the c0mer2 Who else, other than concerned people from this particular neighbourhood, can partidpate in mending these relationships, in sorting out the problems that the or/me has created?"' This quote is from a recent publication by the Greater Shankill Alternatives project -a restorative justice programme in the heart of Loyalist West Belfast that runs an intensive programme for young offenders.
Transitional Justice in Northern Ireland
Truth and Justice and Northern Ireland, 2019
The Good Friday Agreement heralded the end of Thirty years of a protracted social conflict and the beginning of political and civic initiatives aimed at building peace and the restoration of justice in communities for whom trust in the state distinctly lacks. Focusing on the role of transitional justice and its post-conflict application in Northern Ireland, this thesis explores the potential for further development of transitional mechanisms as a means to repair a society still bitterly divided by ethno-national conflict. By listening to the voices of those from across the political and social divide, every day people with extraordinary stories of personal trauma and experiences of violence during the period known as the Troubles, has identified intra and inter-community issues which if unaddressed will serve as a barrier to any future initiatives, equally there are several shared themes for which policy makers and civic society are able capitalise and drive forward progress for peace and reconciliation.