The first, the rapidly growing Restorative Justice Movement poses questions such as: "How can we increase offenders' awareness of the injury to the victim? Can we involve the offender in 'repairing' (in some fashion) the harm they have done? Can the community be involved in the process of holding offenders accountable? How might the community send messages of disapproval, while not banishing offenders?"
Carolyn Boyes-Watson states that Restorative Justice is:
"...a growing social movement to institutionalize peaceful approaches to harm, problem-solving and violations of legal and human rights. These range from international peacemaking tribunals such as the South Africa Truth and Reconciliation Commission to innovations within the criminal and juvenile justice systems, schools, social services and communities. Rather than privileging the law, professionals and the state, restorative resolutions engage those who are harmed, wrongdoers and their affected communities in search of solutions that promote repair, reconciliation and the rebuilding of relationships."
The second alternative can be found today in Brazil - a prison without guards, run essentially by the inmates themselves, where the rate of re-offense once the sentence is completed is under 4%.
Here the inmates are called "recuperandos" - men who are recovering. The umbrella organization, which has final responsibility for the prison, is staffed almost exclusively by volunteers, and is known as APAC: The Association for the Care and Protection of the Convicted. Doctors, dentists, and psychologists also offer their services on a volunteer basis.
The prison is known as San Jose dos Campos; in a film about this remarkable place, the chief psychologist there speaks openly about one of the core dimensions of this prison system: "The fundamental importance of the quality of relationships in every stage of the lifestyle is at the heart of the system." He adds that newly arriving prisoners are warmly welcomed by senior recuperandos; there is also an extensive degree of family involvement, and a focus on the importance of a democratic council by which decisions are made. The model on which this program is based was adopted and utilized on wings of 130 other Brazilian prisons.
Both San Jose dos Campos and the Restorative Justice Movement have one thing in common - the re-building of "bridges of interdependence": between community and offender, offender and family, offender and legal system.
The Flavor and Feeling of Partnership
We have briefly explored the shift to a partnership system at the institutional level. Let's go even deeper. What is the essence of partnership itself? The template for this way of being can be found in the term, "partner "- suggesting the joining together of two people.
I mentioned in the prologue that I first encountered the work of Martin Buber in adolescence. It is interesting to me that, all these years later, he remains profoundly relevant. Buber might be called "the father of partnership way." He is known for his formulation of two kinds of relationship which he described as I-It and I-Thou.
To begin, an I-Thou relationship can be described as a "dialogue" - a genuine exchange; in contrast, the I-It (or "Us and Them") mode is regarded as that of "monologue." The individual coming from an I-It way of being may be seeking to command, coerce, manipulate, impress, deceive, exploit or even destroy. There is a one-way, self-serving quality to the relationship where another person is not seen as a partner or "sacred subject," but rather as an object - perhaps more like a piece of furniture. Buber maintained that only an "I-Thou" connection can lead to an authentic, mutual encounter between two people. Some of the characteristics of an "I-Thou" connection:
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