We at the Champaign-Urbana Area Project are developing and implementing projects that promote the use of Restorative Justice (RJ) practices in Champaign County communities.

Please click here to download our brochure on restorative practices in Champaign County: Restorative Justice brochure

What is Restorative Justice?

Crime and other harms affect their victims, but also communities and the offenders themselves.  Restorative Justice is a philosophy that seeks to ensure that victims’ needs are met and that the harm done can be made right so that victims can thrive, communities can become peaceful places, and that offenders, too, can become successful members of society.  When common ground is found, we can find solutions together through mutual consensus-building and decision-making, which creates positive outcomes for all.

Restorative Justice maintains that those who have a stake in a specific offense must be involved to the greatest extent possible. When guided by evidence-based practices, these stakeholders can collectively identify and address harms, needs, and obligations in order to heal and put things as right as possible.

When a crime has been committed, instead of asking these questions:

• What law was broken?
• Who broke the law?
• How are we going to punish them?

…Restorative Justice asks these questions:

• Who was harmed?
• How will the harm be repaired?
• Who is responsible for repairing the harm?

The 5 R’s of Restorative Justice:

1. Relationships – developing caring  connections and finding common ground
2. Respect – listening to others’ opinions and valuing them
3. Responsibility – being accountable for actions taken
4. Restoration – repairing harm that has been caused
5. Reintegration – ensuring all remain included and involved

Restorative Justice…

1. Shows equal concern for victims, offenders, and the affected community
2. Encourages the offender to feel accountable for his/her conduct and to be willing to repair the harm to the victim and the community in a way that helps the offender develop competency
3. Provides opportunities for direct and/or indirect dialogue within the entire community of people affected, including the victim and offender
4. Encourages those involved to collaborate in restoring and developing positive relationships, including the victim and the offender
5. Empowers those affected to increase their capacity to recognize and respond to harm and crime in a restorative way

Restorative Practices

Peer Juries

Peer juries are programs in which youth work together with young offenders, victims, and the community—which is often a school setting—to repair harm, build competencies and help to create safer schools and/or communities. Agencies operating and administering peer jury programs include juvenile courts, juvenile probation departments, law enforcement, private nonprofit organizations, and schools.

What does a peer jury look like?

• Does not resemble a judicial court
• Arranges youth in a circle
• Uses a “talking piece” to moderate the conversation
• Includes the victim as much as possible
• Requires youth to admit their guilt prior to participation
• Asks restorative questions of both  the wrongdoer and the victim
• Usually dismisses charges or punitive punishments upon  completion of the agreement

In a peer jury, participants ask restorative questions as part of the process to repair harms:

• To the wrongdoer:

1. What happened?
2. What were you thinking at the time?
3. What have you thought about since?
4. Who do you think has been affected by what you did?
5. In what way?
6. What do you need to do to make things right?
7. How can we make sure this doesn’t happen again?
8. What can we do to help you?

• To the person harmed:

1. What happened?
2. What were you thinking when it happened?
3. What have you thought about since?
4. How has it affected you?
5. What’s been the hardest part for you?
6. What’s needed to make things right?
7. How can we make sure this doesn’t happen again?
8. What can we do to help you?

Video: Peer Jury at Manual High School in Peoria, IL

What students have said about their peer jury experiences:

“Peer jury is a better solution because it aims for long-term gain rather than just punishment.”

–High school freshman

“Being involved with peer jury has taught me a lot about understanding all sides of a story before deciding on the steps that should be taken in order to solve the issue.”

–High school senior

“Peer Jury is a great way to give back to the community, and I really think it’s a positive, progressive alternative to the usual detention/suspension/expulsion pattern. Being a part of Peer Jury gives me the sense that I am actually doing something to better my school. I really believe in what Peer Jury is doing.”

–High school senior

Circles

Restorative conversations are often held with participants sitting in a circle, facing one another and using a talking piece to take turns speaking. Circles use traditional circle ritual and structure to involve the victim, victim supporters, the offender, offender supporters, justice or school personnel, police, and all interested community members. Circles are facilitated by a trained “circle keeper,” and within the circle, people can speak from the heart in a shared search for understanding of the event and to identify the steps necessary to assist in healing all affected parties and prevent future crimes.

There are many types of circles, and the specifics of the circle process vary from community to community to fit local needs and culture. In Illinois, circles are most often used in communities, schools, and workplaces for conflict resolution, healing, and as a way of building relationships that create a peaceful and safe place to study, work, and live.

The goals of circles include:

• Building relationships, creating a sense of community and its capacity for resolving conflict.
• Addressing the underlying causes of criminal and/or inappropriate behavior.
• Promoting and sharing community values.
• Promoting healing for all affected parties of inappropriate behavior.
• Providing an opportunity for the offender to make amends.
• Empowering victims, community members, families, and offenders by giving them a voice and a shared responsibility in finding constructive resolutions.

Victim-Offender Conferencing

Victim-offender conferencing, also known as victim-offender mediation, is a process that provides interested victims an opportunity to meet their offender in a safe and structured setting and engage in a mediated discussion of the crime. This process can also be referred to as a victim-offender “dialogue,” “meeting,” or “conference,” because it encourages conversation rather than dispute. With the assistance of a trained mediator, the victim is able to tell the offender about the crime’s physical, emotional, and financial impact; to receive answers to lingering questions about the crime and the offender; and to be directly involved in developing a restitution plan for the offender to pay back his or her financial debt. The process is not primarily focused on reaching a settlement, although most sessions do, in fact, result in a signed restitution agreement. The majority of mediation sessions involve juvenile offenders, although the process is occasionally used with adults and even in very serious violent cases.

More Restorative Practices