Restorative justice

For my job, I figured I would eventually get to attend and have a feel for what Annual General Meetings (AGM) or Board of Director meetings would be like.  That was what I thought about my job back in Canada.  Funny thing is that I am attending my first AGM in Jamaica.  It provided me with an interesting contrast from the day-to-day activities to the larger perspective of what the organization is about and what they've accomplished during the year, which is nothing short of amazing.  But the organization is capable of so much more too.

Today, I learned about Restorative and Community Justice, from a sensitization workshop that was put on at the Spanish Town Centre.  I just went for a normal day of work at Spanish Town, but it was a coincidence they were holding the workshop in the afternoon.  To me, from the first time I heard the words 'restorative justice' I thought it was jargon.  Didn't make any sense to me, and no one really gave me a definition.  After going through the trusty wikipedia and this sensitization, I still feel like it's jargon, but at least I have a much better understanding of what it's supposed to mean.

Also attending this session gave me a bit of a better understanding about the essence of my organization.  At its core, the DRF provides, trains, and advocates for alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and restorative justice practices.  These practices are more than providing justice alternatives outside the courts.  These practices are about resolving the divides between human relationships.  Beyond imprisonment or monetary settlements, it gives individuals and communities a chance to tackle the underlying issues giving rise to the conflicts. Where political garrisons and gangs have divided communities even on the opposite sides of a street for years, what the organization does may be able to bridge the gaps that have seemed so far and impossible to cross.  There is a lot needs to be done, but this is what I think is the ideal is for the organization, whether it's expressed or not.  It could also be useful to resolving day-to-day conflicts and arguments like what may arise from conflicts at the workplace, or what TV show to watch on a Monday night at an overcrowded TV.

Tomorrow, we take a field trip Montego Bay with work to visit the centre there. There's 18 different service centres across the island and I think part of my role will take me to visit as many of those centres as I can.  It's going to have to take place in the new year, but for now, I have something to look forward to.