Resolving Conflict and Restoring Relationships: Experiments in Community Justice within a New Zealand Faith-Based Unit

In October 2004, a faith-based prison unit was opened at Rimutaka Prison, near Wellington, New Zealand, being a joint Department of Corrections and Prison Fellowship of New Zealand programme that promotes peace and reconciliation. The model of biblical peace making, and processes for 'conflict resolution and the restoration of community peace, presents both staff and inmates with conflicts in terms of established disciplinary procedures, and the impact of 'prisonisation' on inmates. The introduction of a victim-offender program (the Sycamore Tree program) further reinforces the consequences of crime and the harm to victims. The paper explores the role of restorative justice in prisons, and the applicability of "best practise" restorative justice principles and practises within an institutional setting. It also examines the implications of this model for inmate family/whänau restoration, and victim/offender reconciliation. The paper concludes with a discussion on the implications of this model for the wider correctional system.

Click here to get the file