Category Archives: Responses from participants

Caution and blessing, Restorative Justice Circles can quickly create a culture.

When Kay Pranis and Jennifer Ball came to visit SCVRJP, they met with a few of our volunteers and stayed for a Controlled Substance Intervention Circle.  I realized that SCVRJP has developed a culture of Circles.  As we spoke about

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Filed under Circle Keeping, Circle Process, Circle Stages, College Circles, Community, Practitioner Skills, Responses from participants, Restorative Justice, SCVRJP, Teaching RJ, Tip of the Week, Victims, Volunteers

Circle keeping from the depths of your humanity.

Thank you Webster dictionary on-line.  Humanity:  The totality of human beings.  Human Beings are mental, physical, emotional and spiritual.  I believe that Circle keeping is most effective when the keeper is working towards a balance and wellness.  I say working

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Filed under Belonging, Circle Keeping, Circle Process, Circle Stages, personal growth, Practitioner Skills, Responses from participants, Restorative Justice, Teaching RJ

Restorative Justice accountibility means understanding the context.

Context, it is understanding things in perspective to other things.  I think we underestimate the importance of context.  For example, it is 2:20am and I have to be leading a Circle in 7 hours.  I should be sleeping.  This blog is

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Filed under Belonging, offenders, Peace, personal growth, Responses from participants, Restorative Justice, storytelling

Restorative Justice stakeholders discuss program experience.

 Valentine’s Day 2012 was a good one!  Judges, court clerks, law enforcement, social workers, fellow nonprofit providers, clergy, attorney’s and victim advocates attended a stakeholder meeting hosted by SCVRJP.  (New website launched today – check it out!) The panel speakers

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Filed under Community, Conferencing, Formal Justice, non-profit management, Relationships, Research, Responses from participants, Restorative Justice, SCVRJP, Teaching RJ, Victims, Volunteers

Doing justice for Restorative Justice is not what to think, but how.

This article in Harvard Business Review, the author shares some success in sharing HOW to think, not WHAT to think.  Boom, in my brain, that is why I blog, to help people with Restorative Justice and Circles, and to provide

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Filed under Circle Keeping, Circle Process, Community, Full Circle Experiences, offenders, Practitioner Skills, Relationships, Responses from participants, Restorative Justice, Safe Teen Driving Circles, SCVRJP, Social Media, storytelling, Victim Impact Panels, Victims

Trained teachers offer what Restorative Justice Circles “bridge”.

  I appreciate Sharon Bowman, she has a resource-filled website, great articles and books.  If you follow her on LinkedIn, great powerpoints shared.  Friend and mentor, pictured here, helped me learn how to work and train teachers.  In turn I

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Filed under Circle Keeping, Circle Process, Elementary Classroom Circles, Full Circle Experiences, Kris Miner, Practitioner Skills, Responses from participants, Restorative Justice, Restorative Justice in Schools, SCVRJP, Teaching RJ

School-based Restorative Justice Circles – handouts and example demonstration.

  In a school gym, we placed the Circle Center items in the basketball center court.  Four student volunteers each had a direction, and at each direction 3 months of the year were designated and students divided themselves based on

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Filed under Circle Keeping, Circle Process, Circle Stages, Responses from participants, Restorative Justice in Schools, Teaching RJ, Tip of the Week

Different types of Restorative Justice Circles and a practitioner perspective.

Just as there are 12 major markings on the face of a clock, I could list 12 different kinds of Circles.  In four basic categories those Circles would be community building – peace building – repair building – and celebration.  This

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Filed under Belonging, Circle Keeping, Circle Process, Circle Stages, Community, Full Circle Experiences, Peace, Practitioner Skills, Relationships, Responses from participants, Restorative Justice, Restorative Justice in Schools, SCVRJP, Tip of the Week

Restorative Justice demonstrates that using values, generates postive impacts, one after another.

I’ve heard of it and experienced it, one good deed promotes another.  I paid for coffee for the person behind me in line, before leaving the coffee shop, the barista stopped me to say it went on for a dozen

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Filed under Circle Keeping, Circle Process, personal growth, Practitioner Skills, Relationships, Responses from participants, Restorative Justice, SCVRJP, Underage Consumption Panels, Volunteers

Final reflections in Circle, the juicy fruit! Relationships juicy fruit, not the gum.

I don’t mean juicy fruit gum, I mean the fruit that you get, because you planted some seeds.  A Circle is an amazing event.  I LOVE the process.  I start it the moment people enter the Restorative Justice Center, “Hi,

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Filed under Belonging, Circle Keeping, Circle Process, Circle Stages, Community, Full Circle Experiences, offenders, personal growth, Practitioner Skills, Relationships, Responses from participants, Restorative Justice, Safe Teen Driving Circles, Underage Consumption Panels, Victims, Volunteers