Restorative Justice: Refocusing on Stakeholders

Societal Re-entry

Societal re-entry is one of the most important aspects of restorative justice. According to Liam Martin, author of “'Free but Still Walking the Yard': Prisonization and the Problems of Reentry,” the problems that people released from prison face in society are widely ranged and can have serious negative impacts. They encounter obstacles while trying to do basic things that they need to survive and make a living in the world, such as being locked out of job opportunities, having difficulty opening bank accounts, and finding accommodation. The permanent brand of “ex-con” or "felon" that people who go through the prison system carry is a direct result of the current criminal justice system’s sweeping labelling of people convicted of crimes and is just as bad and permanently harmful to society. Restorative justice helps to humanize people responsible for wrongdoing through implementing multiple programs, some of which have been mentioned in this project, such as victim-offender mediation and community circle conferences. By enabling the community and harmed parties to interact with people while they are still in prison, people can better view those responsible for crime as holistic humans and not just criminals. Prisoners are able to start building relationships before they exit prison.

Liam Martin says:

“In the days and weeks after release, simply getting used to the basic
routines of social interaction in new environments can be a major obstacle.
Former prisoners do not respond to these problems passively, but continue to
learn and modify their practice—and gradually reshape the habitus—as they
face the demands of the world outside,” (Martin 689).

It is the duty of the community to help and support people released from prison in their endeavors to reenter society. This can be done by removing obstacles to their wellbeing. Removing obstacles helps to reduce recidivism and enables released prisoners to become fully functioning and contributing members of society again, which benefits everyone.

The aim of this section of the program is to help the stakeholders take charge of their situation and help fix what is broken by using means suggested by restorative justice. Therefore, the task of helping to make societal re-entry easier for prisoners is in the hands of the people being released from prison and the community they are being released back into. As many concerned members of the community who are dedicated to making a change can be involved.

Below is a path (Making Societal Re-entry Easier) to our suggested steps to follow in order to help educate people and ultimately implement changes that will help to make societal reentry easier for all involved. By the end of the program, it is our hope that the community and the prisoners would have worked together to come up with achievable and detailed goals to work towards. They will have worked together to decide what the most necessary changes are that need to be made, using restorative justice principles, to strengthen societal reentry for newly released prisoners.

Making Societal Re-entry Easier

References:

Martin, Liam. “‘Free but Still Walking the Yard’: Prisonization and the Problems of Reentry.” Sage Journals, 47, 5, 2018, pp. 671-694. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0891241617737814

 

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