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All of us, whether victims of crime, offenders, employees in the criminal justice system, family
members or neighbours, are called to find paths to a justice system which reconciles; which
rejects attitudes of revenge; which helps victims to heal and offenders to turn their life around.
It is the only true path to the security and safety that our society longs for.
New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference, Revenge or Reconciliation, 2009
Ideas for teacher professional development
Learning outcomes
Learners will:
reflect on the notion of justice and the links to Catholic social teachingexamine different notions of justice including Western, Māori and Biblical justiceconsider attributes of retributive and restorative justice and how they are practised in your school community
read about a proactive restorative approach in schoolslink restorative practice with Gospel values in the Catholic school curriculum.
The courage to forgive
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Justice and Catholic social teaching
Let justice flow like a stream, and righteousness like a river that never goes dry.
Amos 5: 24
The Catholic Church has been as vocal as the prophet Amos about social justice and human dignity. Our
concern is rooted in the teachings of the Bible, but there is also a rich collection of documents that explain what
we call Catholic social teaching.
The following are some of the key themes of Catholic social teaching:
All people have a unique dignity from God that must be respected.We must care for the common good of our world community, not just our own individual concerns.We must have a concern for poor people.We must protect the rights of workers.We must care for God’s creation.We must promote peace and rid ourselves of weapons of mass destruction.We must work so that the world’s wealth is distributed fairly among all people.
Adapted from Break through! The Bible for Young Catholics, St Mary’s Press, 2006, p 1322
The principles of Catholic social teaching provide
a blueprint for how we can live more justly, share more generously,
and act with mercy towards everyone.
Reflection
How are the principles of Catholic social teaching embedded
in our philosophy, identity and professional practice?
Consider the recurring Biblical themes of fall and recovery, loss
and renewal, failure and forgiveness, exile and return. There
is a clear pattern in the teachings of Jesus of failure, recovery
and celebration – for example, the parables of the treasure, the
pearl, the weeds and the wheat, the lost coin, the lost son and
the lost sheep.
Let us quietly reflect for a moment and consider the good
news from Matthew 5: 48:
“Live generously and graciously toward others, the way
God has lived towards you.”
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Activity
Background information on the theme of justice
and reconciliation
Find out about the Christian approach to justice and reconciliation.
Caritas social justice booklet Number 14, A justice that reconciles, is included
in this package. More copies are available through the Caritas office or can be
downloaded from our website: http://www.caritas.org.nz/.
If there is not enough time to work through the booklet you could use the
PowerPoint on this CD ROM, which gives an account of many of the important
points made in the booklet.
View the PowerPoint A justice that reconciles summary.
Discuss the information and ideas presented around crime and punishment, especially in relation to what is
happening in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Share important words or phrases from the Bishops’ statement Revenge or Reconciliation which you will find at
the front of the booklet A justice that reconciles.
God calls even the worst of offenders to change, and offers healing to
those victims of crime able to find the courage to forgive.
New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference, Revenge or Reconciliation, 2009
Different notions of justice
Western justice
The focus of Western criminal justice systems is the judgement and punishment of offenders, whose actions are
measured against the formal rules (laws) of society. In Western justice models, a crime is treated primarily as an
offence against the state. So the state, through the police and courts, takes responsibility for, and control of, the
dispensation of justice. Victims of crime and their families and communities are to a large extent excluded from
the workings of the criminal justice system. Justice is ‘handed down to’ offenders, and commonly has a strong
punitive element to it, which may take the form of a prison sentence or a fine. Imprisonment is more or less the
mainstay of the modern (adult) criminal justice system in the West. Prisoners are cut off from their communities
and society, and there is little possibility for reconciliation and healing for victims or offenders.
Maori justice
Pre-European Māori justice was based on the belief that social responsibilities linked all people to their wider
communities. Thus Māori society viewed crime as an offence against the person affected and their community,
with justice requiring the repair of damaged relationships and the restoration of mana – not only to victims
and their families, but also to the family of the offender. Meetings of the affected whānau and hapū provided a
forum for parties to be heard, with decisions often arrived at through community consensus. Traditional forms
of compensation included utu and muru, commonly but mistakenly referred to as ‘revenge’ and ‘plunder’. In
fact, utu and muru were about the need to restore social relationships through compensation and reparation.
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A justice that reconciles
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Imprisonment, which arrived with the British settlers, was anathema to Māori, and strongly resisted. Another
important foundation concept in Māori justice was the belief that all people had tapu, which should be
acknowledged by other people.
Biblical justice
At the heart of Biblical justice are themes of redemption and transformation. God’s divine love, and its
redeeming and transformative power, is intended for all people, especially ‘sinners’. This was the gospel that
Jesus preached. In 1995, the Catholic Bishops of New Zealand stated that compassion, mercy, healing, sanction
(where appropriate), and forgiveness (leading to reconciliation) were central to a fair and just criminal justice
system.1 These qualities and features are captured neatly by the Biblical term shalom, which refers to the total
wellbeing of a community or society. Justice is also seen by the prophet Amos as something transforming,
when he uses the symbol of a river: “Let justice flow like a stream, and righteousness like a river that never goes
dry” (Amos 5: 24).
The disproportionate reliance on imprisonment as the principal form of sanction in modern Western
democracies does not sit easily alongside Biblical visions of justice, such as Amos ’ ‘flowing river’. The New
Zealand Catholic Bishops have gone so far as to say that prisons are destructive of people’s humanity, and
that the tougher penal institutions in New Zealand are “an affront to human dignity” and “a poison in the
bloodstream of the nation”.
The good news that Jesus proclaimed, as foretold by Isaiah, included the promise of “liberty for the captive”
(Luke 4:16-18). Jesus also challenged those in a position to condemn others in society to examine carefully their
own conscience and practices (John 8: 3-11).2
Discuss
What other notions of justice do you know about that you
can share with the group?
What ideas strike you as important to consider as a school
community?
This statue on top of the Old Bailey, the central criminal
court of the United Kingdom, holds the scales of justice and a
sword.
1 New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference: Creating new hearts – moving from retributive to restorative justice, 1995
2 New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference: Bishops Back Penal Reform, 1989
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Understanding the attributes of retributive and restorative justice
Retributive lens Restorative lens
Blame-fixing central Problem-solving central
Focus on past Focus on future
Needs of victim secondary Needs of victim primary
Battle model; adversarial Dialogue normative
Emphasises differences Searches for commonalities
Imposition of pain considered normative Restoration and reparation considered normative
One social injury added to another Emphasis on repair of social injuries
Harm by offender balanced by harm to offender Harm by offender balanced by making right
Focus on offender; victim ignored Victim’s needs central
State and offender are key elements Victim and offender are key elements
Victims lack information Information provided to victims
Restitution rare Restitution normal
Victims’ ‘truth’ secondary Victims given chance to ‘tell their truth’
Victims’ suffering ignored Victims’ suffering lamented and acknowledged
Action from state to offender; offender passive Offender given role in solution
State monopoly on response to wrongdoing Victim, offender and community roles recognised
Offender has no responsibility for resolution Offender has responsibility in resolution
Outcomes encourage offender irresponsibility Responsible behaviour encouraged
Rituals of personal denunciation and exclusion Rituals of lament and reordering
Offender denounced Harmful act denounced
Offender’s ties to community weakened Offender’s integration into community increased
Response based on offender’s past behaviour Response based on consequences of offender’s behaviour
Repentance and forgiveness discouraged Repentance and forgiveness encouraged
Proxy professions are the key actors Victim and offender central; professional help available
Competitive, individualistic values encouraged Mutuality and cooperation encouraged
Ignores social, economic and moral context of behaviour Total context relevant
Assumes win-lose outcomes Makes possible win-win outcomes
Offender seen in fragments, offence being definitional Offender viewed holistically
Sense of balance through retribution Sense of balance through restitution
Balance righted by lowering offender Balance righted by raising both victim and offender
Justice tested by intent and process Justice tested by its ‘fruits’
Justice as right rules Justice as right relationships
Victim-offender relationships ignored Victim-offender relationships central
Process alienates Process aims at reconciliation
From Howard Zehr, Changing Lenses: A New Focus for Crime and Justice, Scottdale Herald Press, 1990, pp 211-214
Activity
In pairs, highlight any statements in either/both columns that are included in your school behaviour
management system.
Provide an example, for instance:
Retributive lens – justice as right rules when student stood down from attending school for a week.
Restorative lens – students asked to focus on the future during the restorative conversation and make a
plan to restore or repair.
Share your work with another pair. Where do you think your school is on a continuum of retributive/restorative
practice?
How you get there determines where you finally arrive.
Richard Rohr, Things Hidden – Scripture as spirituality, 2008, p 174
A restorative approach in schools
The restorative approach to behaviour management in schools has its origins in restorative justice and
victim-offender mediation. Restorative practice is part of the way schools are developing safe and supportive
environments that promote connectedness to the school, student wellbeing, and healthy relationships
between everyone within the school community.
In essence, a restorative philosophy sets out to heal relationships that have been disturbed by wrongdoing. It
follows a respectful process within a collaborative “community of care” (the phrase used by Morrison in Bullying
and victimization in schools: A restorative approach, 2002). In this process the wrongdoer is held accountable and
given an opportunity to reflect on and repair the breakdown in the relationship. The restorative philosophy is
consistent with social emotional learning, values education and citizenship.
The restorative approach in schools means redefining behaviour management away from a punitive, retributive
approach towards a relationship management approach. Teachers use relational language that demonstrates
care, respect and mutual responsibility. Conversations are held using affective questions and statements:
Can you explain what happened?
How did it happen?
How did you act in this situation?
Who do you think has been affected by this?
How were they affected?
How were you affected?
What needs to happen to make things right?
If the same situation happens again what could you do differently?
Other techniques include classroom circles and community conferences.
A restorative approach is “most effective when it is part of a whole school approach where everyone in the
school community makes quality relationships a priority”.
This discussion is based on the excerpt ‘A Restorative Approach to Behaviour Management’; sourced 9/06/09 from
www.edfac.unimelb.edu.au/swap/wellbeing/teachers/environment/restorative.html.
In a 2005 paper, educationalists Peta Blood and Margaret Thorsborne said: “Restorative practice in schools is
much more than conferencing serious misconduct. We are working in a community that has long term and
deep relationships between all its members who need to co-exist in a healthy way for learning outcomes to be
met.” They add that the “implementation of restorative practice risks the fate of many other well intentioned
programmes unless we understand what it takes to change the hearts and minds of our school communities
and are prepared to learn from our past”.
From ‘The Challenge of Culture Change: Embedding Restorative Practice in Schools’,
2005; sourced 9/06/09 from http://www.thorsborne.com.au/papers.htm.
Activity
Note down one thing that stands out for you in the above information on a restorative approach in 1.
schools.
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
2. What are the implications for your school if you are to fully implement restorative practice? For
instance, what is needed to change the hearts and minds of some people within the school
community?
The following section is based on the discussion by Janis Carroll-Lind in the New Zealand Journal of
Teachers’ Work, 2005, Vol 2, Issue 2, 94-99: ‘ “I must respect my teacher, I must respect my teacher, I must
respect my teacher …” The Merits of Giving Out Lines as a Punishment’.
3. To what extent could these strategies be implemented into your school behaviour management plan?
Summary of basic concepts
Restorative practice offers a new way for school discipline.
Some basic concepts of a restorative justice approach include:
Respect
Fairness
Support and affirmation
Belonging
Participation and empowerment
Responsibility and repair
Reintegration
Healing and forgiveness
Proactive strategies include:
Arranging restorative conversation/conferences
Planning actions that will restore the broken relationship
Learning how to handle the situation differently next time
Practical examples of how this might look in a conference
Positive behaviour supports
4W Form (4 questions beginning with ‘what’)
What I did against our class or school rules1.
What rights or rules I broke or infringed2.
What is my explanation?3.
What I think I should do to fix things up or work things out4.
THINK SHEET
This is the rule I broke
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
I chose to break this rule because
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Who was affected when I broke this rule?
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
This is what I could have done instead
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
What needs to happen now?
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Restorative practice linked to Gospel values in the
Catholic school curriculum
Activity
In pairs or small groups, talk over how the Gospel values below link with values underlying
the restorative justice philosophy.
Gospel values of FAITH, HOPE, and LOVE encapsulate:
Compassion
Stewardship/Excellence
Wonder and awe/Innovation, inquiry and curiosity
Dignity of the person/Diversity
Solidarity with the poor/Equity
Community/Community and partnership
Respect for all life/Ecological sustainability
Integrity/Integrity
Self-control/Respect
Other, including Charism
The list above adds a Gospel dimension to each of the values detailed in the Ministry of
Education’s New Zealand Curriculum 2008. (The Gospel values appear first in bold, and are taken
from Catholic School Curriculum Design and Review: Three-step development markers 2007-2010.)
Values underlying the restorative
justice philosophy
Respect
Fairness
Support and affirmation
Belonging
Participation and empowerment
Responsibility and repair
Reintegration
Healing
Forgiveness
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