Copy this CollectionThe story that pointed my reporting work toward solutions journalism wasn't even solutions journalism. It was a traditional true-crime narrative. At the heart of the story was a remarkable case of forgiveness for a murder. The story I ended up writing described the experience of forgiveness as something of a mystery, and mostly in emotional terms. Afterward, unsatisfied with how far my reporting had taken me, I sought to learn more. I researched the psychology of forgiveness, and then about programs that help open crime victims to deeper insights about their experience in order to heal, whether or not they end up forgiving those who harmed them or their loved ones. That is how I discovered restorative justice, an approach that asks first how best to address harm between people and within communities, rather than just asking how much punishment a crime deserves. It is also how I discovered the professional satisfaction of explaining how a response that appears counterintuitive or mysterious at first glance can help repair the damage done by a problem as difficult as violent crime. Since then, I have written often about restorative justice practices, and three of my restorative justice stories are in the Solutions Story Tracker.
For this collection of stories, I chose stories that show the breadth and mechanics of restorative justice in its most common and effective forms, or probe deeply into the mysteries of its effectiveness:
- I wrote about the Texas program that has long been a model for using mediated dialogue between crime victims and those who harmed them as therapy for victims.
- Aliyya Swaby looked at its most common use, in schools, where it has changed how discipline is meted out;
- Claudia Rowe used one case to show how restorative practices have become an alternative system to divert cases from traditional juvenile justice;
- Michael Conforti told the story in podcast form (with original hip-hop!) of a program that has become crime victims' strong preference, over prison sentences, for holding accountable those who committed crimes against them as serious as robbery and assault;
- Resita Cox, Jenny Simeone-Casas, and Sarah Conway explored the role of a restorative-justice court in a community, and why it can be difficult for systems and people to shift gears and embrace the practice; and
- Lara Bazelon, who has written often about crime victims and legal policy, looked at an experimental program in federal court and at the deeper emotional power of restorative practices.
I loved a passage in Bazelon's story enough to close with it: "Although most restorative justice programs are not overtly religious, for many it is a profoundly spiritual experience. Many describe participating in a restorative justice process as one of the most intense and life-altering experiences of their lives."
