Acknowledgements
My sincere thanks to Tinneke Van Camp and Estelle Zinsstag for the invitation to prepare an anthology of my publications and for all their invaluable feedback along the way. At the time of receiving the invitation, I felt honoured to be included in their series on ‘Studies in Restorative Justice,’ but I did not adequately realise how daunting it would prove. It was a challenge to select publications out of two decades of scholarship and looking back, to critique their contributions to the pragmatic question of how restorative justice reverses family violence.
Even tougher was to dig into a new terrain (for me) about the underlying reasons as to why restorative justice grows peaceful relations. In responding to this fundamental question, I delved into my religious and cultural roots. Hence, I dedicated this volume to my parents, who lived by the peace testimony of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), declaring love to all.
My parents’ example informed our family group over the years and their influence is apparent in our weekly meetings via the internet (we are spread out geographically). Keeping to Quaker process, I checked with my relatives about what I was saying about Quaker faith and practice and our own heritage as Friends. Especially helpful has been my frequent phones calls with my sister Ellie Duffield, always ready to offer kindly support and perceptive insights. Another source of guidance has been the Raleigh Friends Meeting and its working group on the Seeds of War/Seeds of Peace, which emerged out of deep concern regarding the Palestinian and Israeli conflict.
The international communities on restorative justice form another vital ‘family group’ from whom I have learned so much. Three members – John Braithwaite in Australia, Tali Gal in Israel and Jeanette Schmid in Canada – generously commented on the concluding chapter in a manner that rounded out my thinking and encouraged me to place restorative justice within a Quaker framework.
The restorative family group is apparent in the co-authorship of ten of the sixteen publications listed in the table of contents of this anthology. The co-authors and editors of the publications hailed from different nationalities and brought extensive experience with restorative justice. They validated my conviction that comparative study yields theoretical insights grounded on practical knowledge.
The many intercultural and transnational exchanges have widened my understanding of the practice and even more of the indispensability of a lasting sense of kinship to sustain our work over the long term. A lynchpin in these exchanges has been The International Journal of Restorative Justice that supports diverse perspectives and intellectually rigorous scholarship. These international relationships were fortified by De Gruyter Brill (in the Netherlands/Germany) for stepping in to publish the journal and ‘The Studies in Restorative Justice’ at a time when Eleven International Publishing (in the Netherlands) redefined its focus to strengthen its publication for Dutch and Flemish markets. I felt warmly welcomed by Bea Timmer at Brill and the effortlessness of the process was evident in the ready transfer from Eleven to Brill of my portrait painted by Abigail Mcgourlay. Subsequently, Thalien Colenbrander skillfully guided the production process of the volume.
The title of this volume Restorative Justice and Family Violence: Peacemaking signals my belief that restorative justice is about making peace. Working on this anthology made it possible for me to integrate my streams of thought on feminism and pacifism. The necessity of this integration is brought home by the caring of four dear fellows – my husband Charley and our three sons Ivan, Daniel and Ben.
Joan Pennell
Cary, North Carolina,