Te Ara Whakatika

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Restorative processes are having a significant impact in some New Zealand schools, with one Auckland educator describing the concept as the most potent process he has seen for facilitating change in children...

Support People Can Be Crucial

Support people can play crucial roles in restorative justice conferences, and in some cases can mean the difference between success and failure.

"We all understand why victims bring support people along, because they are the ones who have been harmed," says the Dunedin District Court's restorative justice coordinator, Cathy Brown.

"But I don't think people always understand why it is important for offenders to have support people."

She says that quite a few offenders say they'd prefer to attend conferences on their own.

"But we encourage them to include at least one support person, because it increases their accountability if they talk about what they have done in front of somebody they know.

"Having someone who knows them well, and who is going to be able to ensure that they do what they say they will do, also increases the confidence of a victim in the whole process."

Auckland District Court restorative justice coordinator Islay Brown says it is important that the offender's support person knows exactly what has gone on before they go to a restorative justice conference.

"Some offenders are not completely up-front about what they have done. If they haven't told the people close to them, they may not be really taking responsibility for what they've done."

Waitakere District Court restorative justice coordinator Garry Summers says that many offenders - and some victims -  are so shamed by what has happened they want to keep it quiet.

"Confidentiality has different meanings in different ethnic communities. We've had some Indian victims, for example, who were very wary of bringing other people into the picture."

Dunedin facilitator Judith Cowley points to two recent restorative justice conferences in which offenders' support people had "almost magical effects on the outcomes."

The first involved an offender who, while intoxicated, had randomly attacked and badly injured an innocent passerby in a Dunedin street late one night.

Judith said that the victim and his supporters were "extremely angry initially. One was so angry he was weeping tears of rage."

The young offender was supported at the conference by his mother.

"The stance of the mother, in empathising with the victim and accepting that her son had some issues that needed to be addressed, helped diffuse their anger. It made it easy in the end to work out a plan that the victim and offender could agree to."

The second case involved a young man who had assaulted the driver of a car that had knocked down his girlfriend. The case was complicated, says Judith, because the victim at the restorative justice conference faced a separate charge of careless driving causing injury.

"The offender was supported at the conference by his girlfriend's father, who I thought would be spitting tacks over what had happened to his daughter. Instead, he described the unfortunate background of the offender, and how he had started an apprenticeship and was getting his life back on track. He didn't try to defend the young man's actions, but made the suggestion that counselling for his anger would be appropriate."

Judith believes that in both examples, "the offenders' support people were enormously helpful in bringing the processes to successful and harmonious resolutions."

Garry (right) believes it is crucial for offenders to involve support people in the restorative justice process, to help them carry out their commitments to the victim, and to make changes to their lives in an ongoing way.

"But sometimes support people are hard to find. Some offenders have burnt bridges with their families and caused harm and suffering within their own whanau, from which they have become socially isolated. It is difficult sometimes for them to engage wider support.

"It hasn't stopped conferences going ahead. Sometimes it has been possible to engage others, such as a prison cultural adviser or a counsellor from a drug and alcohol programme."

Garry also emphasised the importance of briefing support people on their roles prior to conferences.

"Offenders' support people can make a great contribution to a restorative justice conference, but there is also the potential for revictimising the victim.

"We've had cases where an offender's family has turned up and started excusing or minimising poor Johnny's behaviour. This has required the facilitators to intervene to ensure that the offender takes responsibility for their actions."

Pictured on the front page: Actors playing the roles of support people during filming for a training video for the restorative justice pilot.

‘Potent Process for Facilitating Change'

Restorative processes are having a significant impact in some New Zealand schools, with one senior Auckland educator describing the concept as the most potent process he has seen for facilitating change in children, and another ranking it so highly that he believes it should become a mandatory topic within the national curriculum.

Several schools in Auckland are using restorative processes promoted by Australian facilitator and trainer Margaret Thorsborne.

Stuart Newby, the head of guidance at Massey High School, describes the use of ‘restorative thinking' as a paradigm shift for a secondary school.

"It is a way of viewing discipline that is quite different from the usual punitive approach. We're using it primarily where there has been an incident that has affected the relationship between students, or between a student and a teacher.

"It is about restoring those relationships so people can get on with their learning."

Massey has been using restorative processes for about 18 months, and most of the senior staff have undergone training from Margaret Thorsborne.

"Most of our deans would now run restorative meetings at least every couple of weeks.

"It is a voluntary process," says Stuart, "but if a student doesn't do it, they go through the ordinary school discipline process. We're currently reviewing our whole discipline structure to make it more restorative. Before, you used to just come in and tell the kid to get his act together and put him back into class. Now you bring the teacher in, and the other person they've offended, and you run a restorative conference.

We usually like parents to be there as well."

Stuart says that if a restorative conference is run properly, the offending student "often comes to see the wide-ranging impact and consequences of what they have done, and as a result of that insight is far less likely to do the same thing again."

Massey also runs what it calls a restorative thinking room for Year 9 and 10 students.

When there is a confrontation in the classroom between a teacher and student which requires the child to be removed from the class, the student is sent to the room, which is staffed full-time. They go through a process which involves the child negotiating their return to the classroom.

"Typically a child will have a confrontation, be sent to the restorative thinking room, be calmed down, taken through some questions, then returned to the classroom and restored back into learning within 15 minutes."

Stuart says that Massey staff are "all so flat out that none of us have been able to do much research or evaluation (on the restorative approach) as we go along.

"But I did notice that when students in our last senior exam were asked what made Massey a mentally healthy school, a number of kids identified the restorative process."

He says that the process does not work in every case, and in some instances the school board has no option but to exclude children.

"But I would say that three out of four kids you'd anticipate reoffending don't reoffend.

"I've been here quite a long time, and its probably the most potent process I've seen for facilitating change in kids." Kedgley Intermediate School principal Paul Murphy would like to see restorative processes become a mandatory topic within the national school curriculum.

"As an educator, I'd rank it very highly - even ahead of social studies. What's the use of children studying differences in people, getting an A in an assignment, then going out and mocking a child of another culture?"

Kedgley is in its second year of using restorative processes, and has become so committed to the concept that it has made it one of the main targets in the school's charter and built special facilities to cater for restorative meetings. Paul is convinced that the process - which the school uses for incidents ranging from theft, bullying and mocking to physical and verbal assault - has the potential to significantly modify children's attitudes and behaviours.

"The process brings both families to the table. Victims are always involved, and a facilitator works through a process to help negotiate outcomes.

"It transforms the aggressor. At the end of the process they are well aware of how they have affected and hurt the other person. The process produces a contract of behaviours that are acceptable."

Paul says the process is voluntary: "But if the aggressor's parents will not take part, then we just revert to the normal system of stand-down, or in an extreme case like assault it would involve a board hearing."

He says the restorative process requires time in an already overcrowded curriculum, "but none of the children who have been involved so far have reoffended, and none have been stood down (from school)."

The restorative approach is also having flow-on benefits in the wider community.

"Much of the culture of south Auckland is influenced by black American/Los Angeles rap and videos. We had a problem with a horrible thing called a friendship book—a terrible kind of bullying sent surreptitiously around schools.

"We had a restorative meeting with about 20 parents and their children, including offenders and victims. The meeting broke the anger and resentment. We had adults standing up and crying and apologising for their children's behaviour. They hadn't realised that these behaviours can send children to suicide."

Paul and Stuart both commented on the positive way in which restorative processes have been accepted by Maori and Pacific Islands students at their schools.

"We've got a large Maori and Pacific population," says Stuart.

"This process fits particularly well with those cultures. We've had real success. It just feels natural."

Versatility and Community Focus

The range of venues being used for restorative justice conferences demonstrates the versatility and community focus of the process.

Court-referred restorative justice conferences have been held in community houses, city council facilities, church halls, business premises, prisons - even in the homes of offenders.

The choice of venue for a conference is determined by the victim and offender, although the victim has the most say.

One popular Auckland venue is the Onehunga Community House - a 103-year-old former district school building used by a variety of groups for community education, social services and community activities.

Restorative justice facilitator Michelle Werekake-Apelu says that the venue is centrally located in Auckland, close to the Mangere Bridge for those travelling from South Auckland.

"The building is not a corporate-type venue, but it is maintained to provide warmth and safety. There is a choice of rooms for large or small conferences, access to equipment such as whiteboards, and a separate homely kitchen."

Michelle is project manager of Te Waka No Nga Hau E Wha Trust, which also uses the newer corporate-style Auckland City Onehunga Community Centre for restorative justice conferences.

"The contrast of both facilities is good, as victims can choose the venue in which they feel most comfortable."

The Auckland District Court's restorative justice coordinator, Islay Brown, says the location of a venue is often a major consideration, particularly in the central city where transport and parking can be a problem.

"In the commercial sector, for cases such as fraud or theft as a servant, conferences are often held in the business premises of the victim, because "they're too busy to be running all over town."

Court-referred restorative justice conferences have been held in prisons in cases where the offenders are in custody.

"Victims have the choice," says Islay, "and although for many it might be their first experience of a prison, they at least feel more assured about their own security."

The Waitakere District Court restorative justice coordinator, Garry Summers, says that "fronting up to a prison can be a big ask for victims.

"Often the people in custody have committed serious violent offences such as aggravated robbery.

"The uncertainty and fear level about what is ahead can be huge for a victim.

"But the feedback from conferences held in prisons has been positive, suggesting that the facilitators have done a good job preparing victims."

At least two court-referred restorative justice conferences have been held at the homes of offenders.

Islay says that in the first case, "the offender wanted to provide a traditional Samoan feast, which was part of showing the victim their remorse.

"It wouldn't suit all victims to meet in the offender's home, but in this case it worked really well. The victim was comfortable and very interested in the process."

In the second case, involving burglary, the victim and offenders were Samoan, and the victim asked for the conference to be held at the home of one of the offenders.

Garry says that after the conference, the victim was still concerned about the health of his wife, who had been at home during the burglary.

"So one of the offender's parents was invited to the home of the victim to talk to the wife and help her overcome her anxiety over the incident."

Garry believes such cases demonstrate the flexibility of the restorative justice process.

"It is really rewarding to see opportunities for reconciliation like this provided alongside the court process."

Te Ara Whakatika is produced by the Ministry of Justice to ensure the wide community of people who support the restorative justice movement are kept informed about the court-referred restorative justice project. The items in this newsletter do not necessarily reflect the views of the Ministry of Justice or official policies. Articles in this newsletter may be copied and reproduced, but Te Ara Whakatika must be acknowledged. Te Ara Whakatika can be viewed online at www.justice.govt.nz/crrj. Inquiries regarding the court-referred restorative justice project should be directed to: Alison Hill, Ministry of Justice, PO Box 180, Wellington, Phone (04) 918 8839, Fax (04) 918 8820, email: alison.hill@justice.govt.nz; or to co-ordinators Islay Brown (Auckland) Phone 025 745 141, (09) 916 9000; Garry Summers (Waitakere) Phone (025) 271 5148, (09) 916 5268; Marianne Lammers (Hamilton) Phone (07) 957 7816, (025) 271 5203; Cathy Brown (Dunedin) Phone 025 271 5164, (03) 471 5170. Te Ara Whakatika mailing list inquiries should be directed to: Abpost, PO Box 38756, Petone, Wellington. Fax (04) 568 3400.