By engaging families in taking charge of their affairs, restorative justice can reverse family violence. But the expansion of restorative programming into family violence is stymied by fears of setting family members at risk and heightening agency liability if harm results. How does this anthology counter these fears?
In response, it provides two decades of studies documenting successes of a restorative approach with gendered and intergenerational violence. It offers feminist frameworks to explain how these successes are achieved. And finally, the author turns to cultural and religious messages from her own upbringing as a Quaker (Religious Society of Friends) to explain why a restorative approach makes lasting and just peace in homes. The aim is to encourage others to identify such principles in their own backgrounds to safely and confidently expand the use of restorative programming to safeguard children and adults in the home.
Joan Pennell, Ph.D., is Professor Emerita at North Carolina State University. She has published extensively on restorative justice, family violence and feminist theory, including A Restorative Approach to Family Violence: Feminist Kin-making (Routledge, 2023).
Contents
About the Series
Foreword
Acknowledgements
Introduction: Centring Families and Cultural Networks: How Restorative Justice Reverses Family Violence
âJoan Pennell
âPART 1 How Does Restorative Justice Reverse Family Violence?
1 Feminist Praxis: Making Family Group Conferencing Work
âJoan Pennell and Gale Burford
âPART 2 Who Benefits from Restorative Justice in the Context of Family Violence?
4 Family meetings as system reform to address disproportionality and disparities
âHeather Allan, Mary Elizabeth Rauktis, Joan Pennell, Lisa Merkel-Holguin and David Crampton
5 Strengthening Relationships: Childrenâs Participation in a Family Group Approach to Family Violence
âJoan Pennell, Kristen Basque, Ruth Najenson, Paul Nixon and Sharon Inglis
âPART 3 Who Sets the Original Vision of Change for Restorative Justice Programmes?
6 Family and Community Approaches to Intimate Partner Violence: Restorative Programs in the United States
âJoan Pennell, Gale Burford, Erika Sasson, Hillary Packer and Emily L. Smith
âPART 4 What Defines a Programme as Restorative Justice?
7 Restorative Practices and Child Welfare: Toward an Inclusive Civil Society
âJoan Pennell
8 Family Group Conferencing in Child Welfare: Responsive and Regulatory Interfaces
âJoan Pennell
9 Stopping Domestic Violence or Protecting Children? Contributions from Restorative Justice
âJoan Pennell
âPART 5 Where Can Restorative Justice Programmes Be Positioned to Respond to Family Violence?
10 Restorative Justice, Domestic Violence and the Law: A Panel Discussion
âTod Augusta-Scott, Leigh Goodmark and Joan Pennell
11 How Can the Domestic Violence Community Contribute to Safety?
âJoan Pennell
12 Safety Conferencing: Toward a Coordinated and Inclusive Response to Safeguard Women and Children
âJoan Pennell and Stephanie Francis
âPART 6 How Can Restorative Justice Programmes Respect Both Family Culture and Human Rights?
13 Feminist Perspectives on Family Rights: Social Work and Restorative Justice Processes for Stopping Women Abuse
âJoan Pennell and Mary P. Koss
14 Increasing the Cultural Responsiveness of Family Group Conferencing: Advancing Child Welfare Practice
âCheryl Waites, Mark J. Macgowan, Joan Pennell, Iris Carlton-LaNey and Marie Weil