Restorative justice for young people to be focus of public events

The Skidmore College Project on Restorative Justice will present events on Oct. 20 and 21 designed to increase awareness of restorative justice and its potential for use with young people in schools and in juvenile justice.

Restorative justice is based on a collaborative process that includes offenders, victims, and others seeking to hold offenders accountable. Offenders acknowledge responsibility for their actions and take agreed-upon steps to repair the harm they caused. David Karp, sociology professor and Restorative Justice Project director, says, “RJ is a growing social movement, and a community-building approach that has been shown to reduce reoffending and rebuild trust.”

The first event is a community dialogue titled “Children and Justice” on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 6-9 p.m. at Caffe Lena, 47 Phila St., Saratoga Springs. The group will discuss juvenile justice in the U.S. and ways to improve the system, including responses that do not harm children, families, and communities. This free program will include music and poetry, as well as pizza and beverages. Seating is limited.; doors open at 5:45 p.m. For details, see caffelena.org or call 518-583-0022.

On Wednesday, Oct. 21, 7:30 p.m. in Gannett Auditorium of Palamountain Hall on campus, Margaret Thorsborne will give a talk titled “Understanding the nature of emotional harm: Why restorative problem-solving is good for our brains.” Thorsborne is widely recognized as an expert on school and workplace bullying and has played a major role internationally in the introduction of restorative practices.

The two public events are offered in conjunction with an Oct. 21 RJ symposium at Skidmore for juvenile justice professionals, school administrators and staff, and delinquency prevention specialists.

Skidmore’s RJ Project is sponsored in part by the First Fairfield social-enterprise investment firm.

The Thorsborne talk is sponsored the Skidmore Speakers Bureau, Students United for Public Education, Department of Management and Business, and the and Sociology Department.