Increasing demand for restorative justice conferences

THE RECENT growth in demand for in-prison restorative justice conferences has exceeded the expectations of the Prison Fellowship New Zealand (PFNZ), said Kim Workman, the national director of PFNZ and Rethinking Crime and Punishment.

“When we started facilitating conferences about six years ago, we received about six to 10 requests a year,” he said. As the work is not funded by government, that was all they could afford to do. However, in 2007, a generous grant from an anonymous family trust meant PFNZ were “open for business”, something they made known by “word of mouth”.

Word has definitely got out. “In the first two months of 2008, we received an average of one conference request every two days,” said Workman. “We are currently processing 29 requests, with requests coming on a regular basis.”

Workman said it’s a win-win situation for the Department of Corrections. “They provide us with access to the prison, and we conduct a programme from which there is a demonstrated reduction in offending and a positive result for victims.” About two-thirds of all requests for in-prison restorative justice conferences come from prisoners, with the rest coming from the victims.

The conferences, said Workman, usually relate to offences committed at the high end of the offending scale, such as murder, rape, armed robbery, assault causing grievous bodily harm, and vehicular manslaughter. “Recently, we facilitated a meeting between a prisoner who murdered a man over 13 years ago and the victim’s family.”

The results are highly encouraging; victims may not always be ready to forgive, said Workman, but “the opportunity to hear the story of the crime from the offender’s lips, brings a new level of understanding and assists in the healing journey”. Although full closure may not be possible, Workman said, the victims are able to move forward. They are also empowered by being able to tell offenders how they have harmed the victim and the victim’s family, as well as by the offenders taking responsibility for that harm. For the offenders, the chance to tell the story, demonstrate their remorse, and address their feelings of remorse and shame can help them resolve to turn their lives around, said Workman.

Funding, however, continues to be an issue. “We are concerned that we will have to ‘turn the tap off’ before long, due to lack of sustainable funding,” Workman said. In August 2006, the Prime Minister announced a three-year project to fund restorative justice processes in prison, with a roll-out to all prisons after three years. But, said Workman, “[S]omeone forgot to fund it”. Funding for the project was sought by the Ministry of Justice in the 2007-8 Budget, but was declined.

For more information on PFNZ’s in-prison restorative justice conferences, contact Kim Workman on 021 610 336 or director@pfnz.org.nz.

NZLawyer, 4 April 2008