crime prevention Inspiration Public health Restorative Justice Solution-Focused Uncategorized

11th Annual Parole Completion Celebration

On the evening of October 9, 2019 we were privileged to provide the 11th annual celebration honoring people who were discharged from parole in Hawai‘i this year and those who helped them. The event was held in the magnificent Ali‘iolani Hale (Hawai‘i Supreme Court) in Honolulu. About 65 guests including those being discharged from parole, their loved ones, judges, lawyers including public defenders and a couple candidates for the 2020 election for prosecutor for the…

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death forgiveness Inspiration Judges Restorative dialogue (aka victim offender mediation) Restorative Justice Victims

Restorative justice helps us face death

The draw for me to sit with people who face terrible loss, or who are facing their terrible behavior, is deep. Every time I do it I am inspired. It has touched me in extremely profound ways. Some people have commented on this work, e.g. http://www.oprah.com/own-confronting/Colleen-Meets-Her-Husbands-Killer, and asked me “How can you do it?” They have also said things like, “I couldn’t sleep at night if I had your job.” Far from being disturbing, I…

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athletics Communication Inspiration Patience Training

Slowing down to go fast and get better quicker

For the last 13 years I have competed in the xterra World Championship off-road triathlon. It’s held on Maui and has become an annual tradition for me. I love training with my friends who do it, and am always inspired seeing the amazing athletes that come from all over the world to compete in the race. This year Lance Armstrong did it along with some former Olympians. Every single year, except once in 2002, I…

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forgiveness Inspiration prisons Restorative dialogue (aka victim offender mediation) Restorative Justice Victims

Remembering Bob Shapel at a Walla Walla Prison Restorative Dialogue

In January 2011 I was asked to work with three people to facilitate a restorative dialogue (a.k.a. victim offender mediation) at Walla Walla prison in Washington State. The dialogue was filmed for Confronting on the Oprah Winfrey Network http://www.oprah.com/own-confronting/Colleen-Meets-Her-Husbands-Killer Colleen Shapel’s husband Bob, who was also her best friend for most of her life, was senselessly murdered in a February 2004 robbery. Melissa, Colleen’s oldest daughter, and William Schorr, a co-defendant who plead guilty to…

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Inspiration Restorative Justice Victims

Restorative justice helps heal emotional wounds

Jill Bolte Taylor, Ph.D. writes about her fascinating experience as a Harvard trained brain scientist who suffered a stoke in My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist’s Personal Journal. I was fortunate to read Dr. Taylor’s book during a recent 6 hour train ride from New York City to Rochester. Dr. Taylor insightfully discusses how she healed both physically and emotionally, and says: Emotional healing was a tediously slow process but well worth the effort.…

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Inspiration prisons Psychology of possibility Restorative Justice Solution-Focused

The psychology of possibility: “I am in prison, but prison isn’t in me”

Most people have heard that they can look at situations anyway they want, that we don’t have to suffer by adverse situations. “We cannot escape pain, but suffering is optional,” but how exactly do you do this? It’s one thing to know something, but how to actually apply what we know and live it is not the same thing. This year I learned more about applying what we know when I heard a woman say,…

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APAC Prisons drug rehabilitation Inspiration prisons Restorative Justice Therapeutic Jurisprudence

APAC: Brazil’s Restorative Justice Prisons

On July 5 & 6, 2010, I visited two APAC prisons (Associacao de Protecao e Assistencia aos Condenados in English translated as: Association for Protection and Assistance of Convicts) in the city of Itauna, state of Minas Gerias, Brazil. The original APAC prison, which was in San Paulo, Brazil was reportedly the “first contemporary prison” to totally apply a faith-based approach to all parts of prison administration. (See: “Prison Religion: Faith Based reform and the…

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Inspiration Restorative Justice Solution-Focused

Restorative justice & solution-focused applications in Washington D.C.

The Columbia Heights/Shaw Family Collaborative (CHSFC) is a community based organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for people in Washington D.C. It uses restorative justice interventions and provides three basic levels of programs for the community: family group conferencing, youth violence prevention, and work training and jobs for adults. Solution-focused brief therapy principles guide all programs. CHSFC also provides capacity building and training for other agencies. From June 29 to July 2, 2010…

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Conflict Management Inspiration Restorative Justice

Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Legacy of Hope

Martin Luther King, Jr. would have been 81 on his birthday January 15, 2010. He received the Nobel Peace Prize at age 35, and although he only lived for 39 years, his impact on the world was immense.  Not only is he a hero for his work to end racial injustice in the United States, but he left a legacy of hope that we can improve our world through non-violent means. When I was a…

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Inspiration prisons Restorative Justice

Staying the Course to Continue Providing Restorative Justice

“We simply have got to stay and keep helping the people touched by these programs,” says Barbara Tudor with passion and zeal.  When she says she is “staying” you know she means it.  She is a sturdy sixty-ish woman with curly blond short hair and clear blue eyes.  Most striking is her abundant energy, which could vie with the most active teenager. Tudor may also well be the longest working victim offender mediator in the…

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