In need of a cultural shift to promote restorative justice in Southern Europe

Abstract

The article describes the main results of a European project on restorative justice (RJ) called Freedom Wings (FW) and presents a new model to promote RJ in Southern Europe, which was developed from FW findings. The principal mission of the FW project is to disseminate best practices of RJ within a transnational network and to promote community participation in conflict prevention and resolution, in order to support individual and social well-being. This paper presents the main findings of multiagency and professional focus groups exploring restorative approaches and community justice. Observation of experts’ social representation of RJ helped the authors to understand the operation of the justice systems in each country and the attitudes of senior officials towards implementing restorative practices in a way that actively involves the community. The analysis shows the necessity of a cultural change in order to switch from a form of RJ managed by the judicial system to one led by the community. The EU project enabled the research team to theorize a model for promoting a relational and restorative community.

Keywords:

• Restorative justice
• relational and restorative community
• promotional community
• focus groups
• ATLAS.ti

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Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank at Patrizia Patrizi (Full Professor in social psychology at the University of Sassari), Gian Luigi Lepri (Juridical Psychologist; Research fellow in psychology and law at the University of Sassari) and Francesca Vitale, Juridical Psychologist) and the international partnership.The author is very grateful to David Karp (Full Professor of Sociology and Director of the Project on Restorative Justice at Skidmore College; Saratoga Springs, NY) and Carolyn Boyes- Watson (Professor of sociology at Suffolk University, Boston; Director of Suffolk University's Center for Restorative Justice) for their precious comments and suggestions.

Notes

1. The European partners are Cyprus (Lemba Communal Board), Greece (ERFC – European Regional Framework for Co-Operation) and Italy (UNISS – Università degli Studi di Sassari, project coordinator and Associazione ISES). The partners worked together to elaborate and implement the research project.

2. In Cyprus, RJ legislation has benefited from the positive influence of the European Union, particularly where it concerns the compensation of victims of violent crimes. For example, Cyprus created Law 51 (I), amended in 2006. Even though mediation is not yet an alternative to penal litigation, its value is recognized in family law (family mediation) for the prevention of mistreatment and the protection of victims (Law 119 (1) 2000 as amended by Law 212 (1) 2004). In Greece, diversion provisions regarding minors are included in the Code of Criminal Procedure. Mediation between the victim and the offender is one of the measures indicated. A stronger emphasis was placed on results rather than process: prevention of social exclusion of the child and the containment of deviant behaviour is a goal of VOM. Law 3500/2006 entered into force on 24 January 2007 introducing ‘criminal mediation’ in cases of domestic violence (arts. 11–14). In 2003, the Greek Parliament adopted Act 3189 on the ‘reform of the legislation concerning minors’.

3. http://ec.europa.eu/europe2020/index_it.htm