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What is Restorative Justice?
Restorative Justice provides a new way of thinking about and responding to crime
and victimization. Rather than viewing a criminal act as a crime against the
State and placing victims and offenders in passive roles, restorative justice
views criminal behavior as a act against an individual or a community. It is
a three prong balanced approach to rehabilitating juvenile offenders to become
more productive, responsible citizens. This approach involves cooperation from
the victim, the offender, and the community. It assumes that those most affected
by crime should have the opportunity to become actively involved in resolving
the conflict. This assumption allows for more input from the victims as well
as the community.
Goals of Restorative Justice:
- To repair victim and community loss while holding
offenders directly accountable for their behavior;
- To ensure that communities can pull their resources
together and collectively assist in the rehabilitation of juvenile
offenders, while adding value to the community;
- To increase the offender's investment in his/her
community in order to reduce recidivism;
- To give victims and communities opportunities for
restoring justice and repairing harm from crime through a variety
of methods.
One way this can be achieved is through extensive educational
training and community involvement through community service.
How are restorative justice principles implemented
in Atlantic County?
Atlantic County, in cooperation with the New Jersey Juvenile Justice Commission
and the New Jersey State Judiciary Probation Division, Atlantic County is implementing
restorative justice principles through a number of programs. Atlantic County
is working with the Division of Probation's Victim Impact Awareness Program
as a means to make juveniles aware of the impact crimes have on the victim,
the victims' families and the community.
Also, juveniles assigned to the program are responsible
for contributing to community service projects geared toward forcing
the juveniles to "give back" to the victim and/or the community
what they took away by committing the crime. For instance, if a juvenile
or a group of juveniles vandalize property, the same group or another
group of delinquents will be assigned to repair the damage caused by
the crime.
The goal is to hold the juvenile accountable for his/her
crime and to ensure that the public receives adequate reparation and
justice served.
Who benefits?
The entire community benefits with Restorative Justice. It is modeled after
the Balanced Approach initiative and focuses on the strengths and competencies
of both the victim, the offender and the community as opposed to their weaknesses.
While denouncing criminal behavior and stressing the importance of public safety,
restorative justice emphasizes the need to treat offenders with respect and
to reintegrate them into the larger community in ways that can lead to lawful
behavior.
How can an organization participate?
Locally, the Restorative Justice project is a collaborative effort between
the New Jersey Juvenile Justice Commission , the Atlantic County Division of
Probation and the Youth Services Commission. It is open
to all public and non profit organizations. Community service projects may
include landscaping, repainting facilities, building renovations, maintaining
vandalized property, food services, cleaning family centers, etc. Projects
can be creative as long as they help improve the community.
Who can I contact for more information?
If your organization would like more information on how to participate in the
restorative justice initiative, please contact:
Atlantic County Youth Service Commission
Restorative Justice Program
Shirley Robinson
101 S. Shore Road
Northfield, NJ 08225
609-645-7700 Extension 4507
Other restorative justice links:
http://www.restorativejustice.org:
RestorativeJustice.Org
http://www.nttac.org:Website
for general information on Balanced and Restorative Justice Project's.
http://ssw.che.umn.edu/rjp/ :
University of Minnesota's website on restorative justice.
http://www.innonet.org:
Nonprofit organization dedicated to enabling public and nonprofit
organizations to better plan, execute, and evaluate their structure,
operations, and services.
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