International working group goes to the Netherlands. Restorative justice and incarceration: Developing new approaches together.
In the working group "Restorative Justice and Imprisonment" of the European Forum for Restorative Justice (EFRJ), we address the question of how restorative justice can be strengthened in all phases and forms of imprisonment. We understand incarceration not solely as a legal or physical condition, but as a human experience whose psychosocial effects extend far beyond the period of incarceration.
The focus is on people and their relationships: victims of crime, incarcerated individuals, their families, staff, and the communities affected by crime and incarceration. Restorative justice offers opportunities to acknowledge injustice suffered, take responsibility, strengthen relationships, and support social reintegration. At the same time, it is essential to consider the specific challenges of closed institutions, institutional power dynamics, and structural barriers.
My work in this group combines these international professional perspectives with my practical experience in the prison system and my concept of victim-centered work in prisons (BoAS). A key focus is on how the needs and experiences of victims can be considered in the design of restorative processes and what conditions are necessary to ensure that encounters take place safely, voluntarily, and respectfully.
At the 13th International Conference of the European Forum for Restorative Justice in Poznań in June 2026, we conducted a training session using user experience design methods to illustrate the potential experience of a victim of incarceration during a restorative process. Together, we explored the questions, uncertainties, and emotional challenges that can arise on the path to such a dialogue, and what information, support, and choices victims need. See blog post. Following this workshop, we met for three days in September 2026 at Avans University in 's-Hertogenbosch to further develop our shared goals. The focus is on refining the training: We want to examine the individual phases of a restorative process in more detail, incorporate the victim's perspective more systematically, and develop concrete approaches for improving practice.
Our goal is to develop a practical training concept based on our previous experience, one that can be adapted to different European correctional contexts. This involves not only individual restorative methods, but also exploring how institutional cultures can evolve to place greater emphasis on human dignity, accountability, and social cohesion. We have worked hard and made significant progress with the revision of the existing training program, an accompanying manual, and a position paper. However, much work remains to be done.
For me, the particular significance and joy of this collaboration lies in combining international expertise with practical experience. Restorative justice should not end at the prison walls. It can help open up new perspectives, strengthen relationships, and build bridges between incarceration, rehabilitation, and social reintegration.
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