Emotion gives the Real Justice restorative justice conference its power.

The Real Justice conference is a tool that allows those who have been most affected by an incident to come together to share their feelings, describe how they have been affected and develop a plan to repair the harm done and prevent recurrence. Conferencing is a victim-sensitive approach to addressing wrongdoing. It is also re-integrative, allowing a person to make amends and avoid stigmatization.

Real Justice conferences are structured meetings and always voluntary. The conference provides victims and others with an opportunity to confront the offender, express their feelings, ask questions and have a say in the outcome.

Offenders hear firsthand how their behavior has affected people. They may begin to repair the harm by apologizing, making amends and agreeing to financial restitution or personal or community service work.

Real Justice facilitators stick to a simple script to focus the encounter but otherwise do not actively participate. This demonstrates to participants that they can resolve their own problems.

The facilitator first asks offenders to talk about what they did, what they were thinking about when they did it, and who they think may have been affected by their actions. The facilitator then asks victims and their family members and friends to talk about the incident from their perspective, as well as how it affected them. The offenders’ family and friends are asked to do the same.

Finally the victim is asked what he or she would like to be the outcome of the conference. The response is discussed with the offender and everyone else at the conference. When agreement is reached usually a simple contract is written and signed.

For months, Walter, the owner of a convenience store had noticed small amounts of money and items like cigarettes disappearing from his store. To some extent he had been in denial, finding it hard to believe that one of his employees might be a thief. Finally he secretly concealed a video camera in the store to catch the culprit on video.

Much to his surprise and chagrin he successfully videotaped Lou, a youth who worked for him, stealing a $20 bill from the drawer. Walter confronted Lou, who tearfully admitted to all of the thefts during the past months. Lou was the last person Walter would ever have imagined stealing from him. He was the son of a couple who were among his family’s dearest friends. Nonetheless, Walter felt compelled to fire Lou from the job and call the police.

The arresting officer realized that calling the police had been a painful decision for Walter. The close relationship between Walter and Lou’s families and the youth’s lack of a previous criminal record made the situation especially appropriate for a conference. Both parties agreed, and the policeman convened the conference a few days later in a room at the local police station.

Lou could not have been more ashamed. He knew that he had not only betrayed people who had always been kind and generous to him but also humiliated his own family and damaged the close relationship between Walter’s family and his own.

The conference was an intensely emotional event. Walter and his wife repeatedly stated they would never have expected Lou to be the thief and how betrayed and hurt they felt. They also pointed out the distance and discomfort between their two families since they had discovered who had been stealing from their store.

Lou’s parents echoed their friends’ sentiments. They were utterly amazed that their son was capable of such wrongdoing and emphasized how ashamed and uncomfortable they now felt talking to their longtime friends. They simply did not know what to say or how to make up for their son’s betrayal. Lou’s siblings even felt ashamed at school and in town now that everyone knew their brother was a thief.

Expressing these feelings was helpful for both families and began the healing process between them. They next turned to discussing how to repair the harm and developed a written plan that satisfied all parties. As the conference reached its close, feelings eased and all acknowledged that while they disapproved of what Lou had done, they still cared about him and hoped that he would eventually restore trust within his own family and with Walter’s family.

Because most crimes involve victims and offenders who live near each other and are likely to continue to see each other, punishing the offender is not enough. People need personal resolution so that they can deal with each other in the future. To prosecute the young convenience store thief through the criminal justice system would have left two families who had long been friends in a very awkward situation, unable to resume their relationship. The conference provided a way to deal with those feelings, reconcile and move beyond the crisis while squarely addressing Lou’s crime.

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