
Restorative Group Conferencing
We can help with facilitation of a range of restorative group conferencing processes in organisations.
A Restorative Group Conference is a formally structured conversation between people who are affected by conflict. That conflict may be:
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the result of a harmful act, the facts of which are not in dispute,
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associated with a series of unresolved disputes between individuals or groups,
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an issue of shared concern between a group of people (we are ‘stuck’ in conflict and we’re not sure how to move forward)
The conferencing format enables everyone affected to consider:
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What happened
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Who has been affected and how
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What is needed to put things right (repair harm; prevent recurrence; reset relationships).
Key principles of Restorative Practices are: accountability, participant empowerment, collaboration, dialogue, respect, empathy. A conference seeks to transform conflict into cooperation by addressing needs which commonly occur in conflict. For example, the need to:
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get a fuller/shared understanding about what’s happened
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have one’s story and feelings heard and acknowledged
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feel safe
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accept responsibility/remorse/offer genuine apology
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contribute to individual and community healing/repair/well being
This text is drawn from the field of Restorative Justice, with acknowledgement to the Restorative Justice Unit at Victoria University of Wellington; and Dr David Moore at Restorative Justice Australia
