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Restorative Practices in Australia
an article by Tony Dominski
On March 3-5, 2005, the third in a series of three conferences dedicated to the theme of "Building a Global Alliance for Restorative Practices and Family Empowerment," was held in Penrith, New South Wales. The conference was organized by the International Institute for Restorative Practices (IIRP). The IIRP's sister organization, Real Justice Australia, co-hosted the conference.
The conference shared restorative practices that respond to crime and wrongdoing by involving victims, offenders and family and friends. The conference proceedings covered applications in such diverse areas such as school bullying, defusing ethic tensions, making reparations to crime victims, and preventing prisoners from returning to a life of crime.
About 275 people from 13 countries attended the conference, including delegates from all Australian states and territories, Bangladesh, Canada, China, England, Greece, Japan, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Scotland, South Africa, Thailand and the United States. The conference brought together individuals working in a wide range of fields, including education, social work, criminal justice, youth justice, policing, corrections, public policy, counseling and academia.
I read a number of conference papers on the website and was fascinated by many innovative ways by which wrongdoers and victims can brought together for mutual healing. The article "Reflections of a Practitioner" by Dennis Sing-Wing Wong, Associate Professor, City University of Hong Kong and Chairman, Centre for Restoration of Human Relationships Hong Kong, China, was especially eye-opening. I was surprised to learn that mediation rather than legal action was the favored method of settling disputes in ancient China, and the tradition is still in widespread though currently declining. Professor Wong, a former juvenile delinquent from a working class background was influenced by his pastor to heal his relationships with his family and the people he hurt. Wong's personal transformation to his life's work illuminates the grand potential of restorative practices.
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DISCUSSION
Question(s) related to this article:
Does research show that nonviolence works?,
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Latest reader comment:
Did the writings on nonviolence by Gene Sharp help inspire the movements of the Arab Spring in Egypt and elsewhere?
This is debatable. The New York Times said "yes" and some Egyptians, for example, the blogger Karim Alrawi say "no".
However, it should be recognized that the ideas of nonviolent resistance have a way of transcending borders and centuries. Nelson Mandela was influenced by Martin Luther King who was influenced in turn by Mahatma Gandhi who was influenced in turn by Henry David Thoreau.
[Note added later: The blog of Karim Alrawi is no longer available on the Internet, but see instead the blog of Hossam El-Hamalawy who says that the Palestinians "have been the major source of inspiration, not Gene Sharp, whose name I first heard in my life only in February after we toppled Mubarak already and whom the clueless NYT moronically gives credit for our uprising."
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