Restorative Justice - Models

Community Group Conferencing

Community Group Conferencing (CGC) is the most typical type of Restorative Justice model used. This process brings together the victim, offender, and community when a crime has been committed. The offender is asked to take responsibility for their behavior and to respond to questions from the victim and community representatives such as: “Tell us what happened”, “What were you thinking at the time”, ”Who has been impacted by the crime?” The victim then has an opportunity to tell the offender the impacts and effects the crime has had on them. The community offers a third voice that is slightly more removed from the direct impacts, yet still has a ripple effect that can cause various impacts. The community representatives main goals are to help the offender make better future choices and to also support the victim. Once the harm has been identified, the group decides how the harm can be repaired in a form of a contract, which the offender must agree to and abide by. The goal for the contract is to have the repair relate as directly as possible to the offense. After the contract is completed, the offender is cleared of all charges and there will be no further sanctions for the offense.

Peacemaking Circles

This restorative process is slightly different than the community conference. The same stakeholders are involved- victim, offender, and community, yet the distinction between the victim and offender is unclear. Essentially, there is mutual responsibility for the crime committed. Each person is both a victim and an offender. Each participant must recognize how their behavior and decisions precipitated the conflict and crime.

This model focuses on the value of repairing relationships as the conflict is often due to a struggle between people with special or intimate relationships.

Mediation

Mediation is a process where two parties can come together in a safe environment to discuss the issues that have created conflict between them.