Comments on: Relationships matter

By: Sarah Federman

Sarah Federman — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 08:49:00 +0000

I’m working on a master’s thesis a related issue. Some Holocaust survivors want to here a ‘true apology’ from the SNCF train company in France for taking them or their loved ones. The company expresses ‘regret’ but not ‘repentance’ because repentance would imply guilt. So they are stuck. Some survivors do not ‘feel’ , ‘felt’

By: Judy Clarke

Judy Clarke — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 08:44:57 +0000

Howard,
How do you manage a relationship when the fundamental values that you refer to are not mutually agreed upon? When a one-sided deception is at the heart of the relationship, is it possible to repair the harm? I am thinking that this question has been asked since the beginning of time. Isn’t this often the reason countries go to war? I believe that restorative justice practices can begin to deconstruct the harm and “make things right” but how can we avoid the harm in the first place? Is it possible to begin a relationship with an understanding of these values and maybe avoid creating the harm?

By: Paddy O'Connor

Paddy O'Connor — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 21:01:42 +0000

When people are harmed it is so much easier to fall back on the punishment option but unfortunately because honest engagement is not given an opportunity to happen, nothing is truly resolved.
Within our families we instinctively engage intensively with those we love at times of stress or conflict. We work hard at listening and supporting so that the conflict does not metasthesise and the family unit usually emerges all the stronger for it.
Extending this restorative approach to our wider worlds of school, workplace and justice systems is what will transform people-in-society beyond measure. As the old Irish saying recognised: “Ar scath a cheile a mhairimid” – We all exist in each others’ shadow

By: Virginia Domingo

Virginia Domingo — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 09:48:07 +0000

It is so true…with the traditional system of justice we are used to leave the resolution of ours problems in other persons, if we want to me a mature and resposible community we have to start learning through dialogue and communication to solve our conflicts, so Restorative Justice is the key. And it is not new for humans because it is the justice we had in the past and we lost with the ages…
Only with this way we can build a more peaceful world! Thanks Howard for this interesting article, always an inspiration