The Restorative Lens

Most states now have legislation that endorses restorative justice. This episode explores questions such as: How important is legislation for restorative justice implementation? What can legislation provide? How does it limit or ensure best practice? What advocacy is needed to promote policy change? How can restorative justice practitioners and programs collaborate to have greater political influe...

In Colorizing Restorative Justice , practitioners of color relate their experiences in the field, examining the inherent contradiction of using these practices within Western, white dominant, settler societies. This episode will explore questions around how cultural competency can be prioritized in equitable systems design, including: How do we account for our own implicit biases when building equ...

Around the United States, restorative justice programs establish different criteria for eligibility for restorative justice including the age of the responsible party, the willingness of the harmed party for the case to go through restorative justice, the type of offense, prior record, and more. There is also an extensive range of subjective measures that decision-makers responsible for referrals...

Procedural justice concerns the fairness and transparency of the processes by which decisions are made, and may be contrasted with retributive justice (fairness in the punishment of wrongs). Allowing all parties to be heard before a decision is made is one step which may lead to a process being characterized and perceived as procedurally fair. Some theories of procedural justice hold that fair pro...

Restorative justice researchers Heather Strang and Larry Sherman (2015) argue, “In the past two decades, restorative justice has been the subject of more rigorous criminological research than perhaps any other strategy for crime prevention and victim support.” But this growing empirical evidence does not always inform program design and implementation. This episode explores the role of research an...

Many restorative justice programs have been launched by people who are passionate and experienced restorative justice practitioners. They were careful to build their programs with great attention to detail and fidelity to best practices. But when they have tried to expand their programs to handle greater caseloads or across jurisdictions, they have faced challenges including cooptation, deviation...

Restorative justice processes and practices in the United States associated with all stages of the criminal legal system have grown exponentially over the last three decades. From community-based pilot programs to national technical assistance and training, the interest in restorative approaches has generated challenges and opportunities for system design. Drawing on community-centered, participat...

In this episode, hosts LTomay Douglas and Alanna Ojibway speak with Christina Parker, who is one author of the chapter “ Who’s In and Who’s Out: Problematizing Peacemaking Circles in Diverse Classrooms” in Colorizing Restorative Justice . Christina’s work provides a critical lens of the way peacemaking circles in classrooms do not always provide a safe space to include the voices of marginalized s...

In this episode, hosts LTomay Douglas and Alanna Ojibway speak with Dr. Johonna McCants-Turner about her journey from youth organizing to transformative justice and how listening to the lived experiences and wisdom of youth can provide some of the most valuable insight into the ways safety/justice are defined and approached. Johonna offers a critical discussion not only individual experiences of h...

In this episode, hosts LTomay Douglas and Alanna Ojibway speak with Edward Valandra, Waŋbli Wapȟáha Hokšíla, who is both an author and editor for Colorizing Restorative Justice . His chapter, “Undoing the First Harm: Settlers in Restorative Justice,” gives voice to the need for settlers to recognize the ways that restorative justice too often fails to address the first harm: which is the theft and...

In this episode, hosts LTomay Douglas and Alanna Ojibway speak with Dr. Desiree Anderson, who authored the chapter in Colorizing Restorative Justice titled “Co-opting Restorative Justice in Higher Education.” Desiree earned her Ph. D. from the University of New Orleans (UNO) and focused her research on the use of campus-based restorative justice approaches as a response to racially-motivated bias...

In this episode, hosts LTomay Douglas and Alanna Ojibway speak with Rochelle Arms Almengor about her chapter in Colorizing Restorative Justice : "Women Colorizing Restorative Justice in White-Led Institutions." Rochelle’s research is rooted both in her own experience as an RJ coordinator working in predominantly White-led institutions, as well as years of research working with other practitioners...