The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was a court-like restorative justice body assembled in South Africa in 1996 after the end of apartheid. Authorised by Nelson Mandela and chaired by Desmond Tutu, the commission invited witnesses who were identified as victims of gross human rights violations to give statements about their experiences, and selected some for public hearings. Perpetrators of violence could also give testimony and request amnesty from both civil and criminal prosecution.
Restorative justice is an approach to justice that aims to repair the harm done to victims. In doing so, practitioners work to ensure that offenders take responsibility for their actions, to understand the harm they have caused, to give them an opportunity to redeem themselves, and to discourage them from causing further harm. For victims, the goal is to give them an active role in the process, and to reduce feelings of anxiety and powerlessness.
Forgiveness, in a psychological sense, is the intentional and voluntary process by which one who may have felt initially wronged, victimized, harmed or hurt goes through a process in changing feelings and attitude regarding a given offender for his/her actions, and overcomes the impact of the offense, flaw or mistake including negative emotions such as resentment or a desire for vengeance. Theorists differ in the extent to which they believe forgiveness also implies replacing the negative emotions with positive attitudes, or requires reconciliation with the offender. In certain legal contexts, forgiveness is a term for absolving someone of debt, loan, obligation, or other claims.
Prison Fellowship is the world's largest Christian nonprofit organization for prisoners, former prisoners, and their families, and a leading advocate for justice reform.
Quaker Peace & Social Witness (QPSW), previously known as the Friends Service Council, and then as Quaker Peace and Service, is one of the central committees of Britain Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends - the national organisation of Quakers in Britain. It works to promote British Quakers' testimonies of equality, justice, peace, simplicity and truth. It works alongside both small local and large international pressure groups.
Prison Fellowship International (PFI) is a Christian international non-governmental organization of national prison fellowship organizations from 112 countries. The organization is based in Washington D.C., United States, and its current president is Andy Corley.
The Yellow Ribbon Project started on 2 October 2004, is a community initiative organised by the Community Action for Rehabilitation of Ex-offenders (CARE) Network in Singapore. The Yellow Ribbon Project advocates a second chance for ex-offenders and their families through concerted efforts and for ex-offenders to reintegrate into society.
Howard J. Zehr is an American criminologist. Zehr is considered to be a pioneer of the modern concept of restorative justice.
Marina Nemat is the author of two memoirs about her life growing up in Iran, serving time in Evin Prison for speaking out against the Iranian government, escaping a death sentence and finally fleeing Iran to go and live in Canada.
A Human Being Died That Night is a 2003 book by Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela.
Koestler Arts is a charity which helps ex-offenders, secure patients and detainees in the UK to express themselves creatively. It promotes the arts in prisons, secure hospitals, immigration centres and in the community, encouraging creativity and the acquisition of new skills as a means to rehabilitation. The Koestler awards were founded in 1962 and the organisation became a charitable trust in 1969 following a bequest from the British-Hungarian author, Arthur Koestler.
Relational transgressions occur when people violate implicit or explicit relational rules. These transgressions include a wide variety of behaviors. The boundaries of relational transgressions are permeable. Betrayal for example, is often used as a synonym for a relational transgression. In some instances, betrayal can be defined as a rule violation that is traumatic to a relationship, and in other instances as destructive conflict or reference to infidelity.
The alternatives to imprisonment are types of punishment or treatment other than time in prison that can be given to a person who is convicted of committing a crime. Some of these are also known as alternative sanctions. Alternatives can take the form of fines, restorative justice, transformative justice or no punishment at all. Capital punishment, corporal punishment and electronic monitoring are also alternatives to imprisonment, but are not promoted by modern prison reform movements for decarceration due to them being carceral in nature.
Beyond Right & Wrong: Stories of Justice and Forgiveness is a 2012 American documentary film about restorative justice and forgiveness. It is directed by Roger Spottiswoode and Lekha Singh and produced by Lekha Singh and Rebecca Chaiklin. The film depicts victims and perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide, the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, and The Troubles in Northern Ireland.
Center for Council is a Los Angeles–based nonprofit organization that trains practitioners in using council to promote wellness and resiliency and utilizes the practice of council to advance social justice and restorative justice and foster resilient and thriving communities.
National Prison Radio is the world's first national radio station for prisoners. It is run by the Prison Radio Association, a charity, in partnership with His Majesty's Prison Service and the National Offender Management Service. It broadcasts 24 hours a day, seven days a week to prisoners in over 100 establishments across England and Wales. Prisoners receive the service as an audio channel via in-cell TV systems. It is available to over 80,000 prisoners.
The Prison Radio Association (PRA) is a British prison-based charity that operates National Prison Radio, a radio station which broadcasts programmes made by and for inmates in over 100 prisons in the United Kingdom and is the world's first national radio station of its kind.
Storybook Dads is a non-profit charity in the UK founded by Sharon Berry and first launched in HM Prison Dartmoor in 2003. The charity enables serving prisoners and detainees to record bed time stories which can then be sent home to their children, and aims to maintain connections between serving prisoners and their families. In women's institutions the project operates under the name Storybook Mums.
Norway's criminal justice system focuses on the principles of restorative justice and the rehabilitation of prisoners. Correctional facilities in Norway focus on maintaining custody of the offender and attempting to make them functioning members of society. Norway's laws forbid the use of torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment as punishment. Prison conditions typically meet international standards, and the government permits visits by human rights observers. The system is considered to be transparent, and prisoners are represented by an ombudsman, an official appointed to investigate individuals’ complaints against public authority.
Lady Edwina Louise Snow is an English criminologist, philanthropist and prison reformer. She is a founder and a trustee of the charity The Clink, and founder of the charity One Small Thing. She is the sister of Hugh Grosvenor, 7th Duke of Westminster.
