Transformation is a big word with big significance, so I do not take it lightly when I hear people say that this is the impact that participating in Restorative Justice (RJ) has had on them. It is also really important, as RJ facilitators and those who are passionate about the work, that we do not put words into participants’ mouths because of our own enthusiasm for the work.
Despite this, it is something that people who take part in an RJ process do say. It is usually people who have been harmed, often very severely, either emotionally or physically, who express this. “Transformational” is a word I have heard from a number of people who have been through a restorative justice process.
My main observation from hearing people’s stories and working with them directly is that participating in the RJ process allows people to move on with their lives. Many people experience symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), e.g. intrusive thoughts, flashbacks, and nightmares. This has an impact on their day-to-day lives, where they go, who with, even on their electricity bills as they may feel prevented from leaving their homes. For the person harmed, there is something therapeutic about the process of being heard and addressing their needs; even expressing their needs can be a big step.
This process is by no means easy. RJ offers persons harmed an opportunity to have questions answered and to express themselves to the person responsible for harm in a way that is best for them. People who have been responsible for harm also express that they experience similar effects from participating in the process. They are also “heard” often for the first time; they get to express what was going on for them at the time of their offence and to make amends. There is also the (debated) process of “reintegrative shaming” (Braithwaite, J) where people responsible for harm are able to feel the shame for the harm that has occurred, but by taking responsibility and being fully accountable they are then able to move on with their lives – the shame that they hold is no longer toxic or stigmatising.
Jane Bolitho’s concept of the “Restorative Justice Black Box” describes a point (the “aha” moment) in the RJ process where memories can be transformed from those that are traumatic, long-standing and are re-experienced to those that are accessed like any other memory. The process helps to store the memories in a different part of the brain. This is called “memory reconsolidation.” This is much like the process that occurs during “Eye Movement and Desensitisation Processing (EMDR)”, a therapy that is often recommended for PTSD.
People who have been harmed will describe what has occurred to their memories in terms very much like this. In one case that I facilitated, the person harmed stopped experiencing intrusive thoughts and flashbacks halfway through the preparation process. These symptoms can start to lessen at any stage in the process, it is not necessarily something that happens after a joint/face-to-face meeting. It was in fact a person who I interviewed as part of the “Survivors to Survivors: Conversations on restorative justice in cases of sexual violence” who had read Bolitho’s work and related it to her experience of RJ.
Therefore, I have come to believe that RJ can be truly transformational for some people and for others, it affords them the opportunity to move on with their lives, hopefully by having their justice needs met and restored.
Bolitho, J (2017) Inside the restorative justice black box: The role of memory reconsolidation in transforming the emotional impact of violent crime on victims.
Biffi, E., Cochrane, G., Millington, L. & Zinsstag, E. (eds.) (2024). From Survivors to Survivors: Conversations on restorative justice in cases of sexual violence. Leuven: EFRJ