About 'Restorative Justice'

There is a banner over the door of every project workshop saying 'Inside Out Trust - Restorative Justice at work in prisons'. So what exactly is this movement which has been gathering pace all over the world in recent years?

Restorative justice began mainly as a way of bringing together the different people involved in a particular crime - the offender and victim, their families and communities, and such professionals as police and probation officers. To this end they meet in a very carefully controlled environment where the victim can get direct answers to questions such as `Why me?' And the offender can explain, apologise, and try to make amends. This experience has shown that reoffending rates can be very much lower when young first-time offenders understand the results of their behaviour, and what pain they have caused.

Inside Out fits in here because of its commitment to mediation between offenders and society. For us, 'restorative' means giving prisoners chances to compensate for their past behaviour by helping whole communities through their work. This also helps spread the idea that past offenders can be good citizens.

The lifer from Frankland working in an IOT project workshop summed it up perfectly when he said 'I've taken a life. I can't spend all day every day saying how remorseful I feel but this gives me a chance to put something back, to pay my respects to society'.

Another charity uses the strap line 'prevent the next victim'. I think our work can contribute to that aim.

Please visit www.restorativejustice.org.uk

Photo credit: Cell window with artist's brushes, by Brian Locklin.