emu.edu/rj-blog
Subscribe to Howard’s Blog (It’s free.) Howard Zehr regularly posts reflections at emu.edu/rj-blog on some aspect of his work. By clicking on “Subscribe” on the left of the blog’s main page, readers can receive an e-mail alerting them to a fresh entry in the blog. Here are thoughts culled from Zehr’s first set of blogs.
“The real genius of restorative justice is the way it highlights the role and needs of victims in the justice process. If restorative justice is to truly help re-invent justice, we must not lose that focus.” (May 20, 2009) “I believe that forgiveness can be tremendously healing. It is a process, though, not a state, and it must be chosen rather than imposed. And it is much easier to choose this road when our needs – including our needs for vindication – are met.” (June 11, 2009) “We need to take seriously the need for those who have been harmed to be vindicated – for the wrong to be acknowledged, honor restored, and efforts to be made, preferably by the one who offended, to make amends.” (June 11, 2009) “How am I living justly? Where am I contributing to injustice in the way I treat people I’m around, in the systems I’m in? In my relationship to the earth? Those are all justice questions and I don’t see many of us asking these questions…” (Quoting Catherine Barnes, an experienced restorative justice practitioner and a former student of his, June 29, 2009)
“Shame can be positive when it motivates us to do the right thing – when we modify our behavior, then put shame behind. But shame is essentially a threat to our self-worth and when shame ‘sticks’ to us, it is debilitating. In fact, I am convinced that shame plays a major role in much offending.” (July 26, 2009)
“As the fields of restorative justice, conflict transformation and trauma work all emphasize, conflict is an opportunity. Out of hurt can come growth. A poster idea: ‘Conflict is opportunity – don’t waste it.’” (Aug. 2, 2009)
“James Gilligan, in his important book Violence: Reflections of a National Epidemic, says that all violence is an effort to do justice or to undo injustice. That is, violence – and much offending behavior in general – is a response to experiences or perceptions of victimization. Experiences of victimization or trauma, in short, can help explain why people offend as well as how they rationalize their offending behavior.” (Aug. 22, 2009)
“My intention in [photo-journalism] projects like Doing Life: Reflections of Men and Women Serving Life Sentences and Transcending: Reflections of Victims of Crime has been to portray people as themselves, without stereotypical clues to their identities... Perhaps the highest calling of photography is not to highlight otherness but to find human connections to that which seems foreign and unfathomable. Photography can build community when it reminds us what we have in common with others.” (Sept. 30, 2009)
Photo by Howard Zehr
peacebuilder ■ 7 emu.edu/cjp