Restorative Justice and Christianity with Kathleen McGoey

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Summary | Restorative Justice and Christianity with Kathleen McGoey

Kathleen McGoey is a trainer and facilitator of Restorative Justice Practices & Conflict Transformation. She has Master's in International Peace & Conflict Studies from the University of Innsbruck, Austria, and a Bachelor's degree from the University of Notre Dame. Kathleen is the former Executive Director of Longmont Community Justice Partnership (LCJP), where she oversaw community restorative justice programs in partnership with police and schools. Kathleen co-authored The Little Book of Restorative Teaching Tools (Good Books, 2020) and runs RestorativeTeachingTools.com, a free online collection of activities for teaching restorative practices.

McGoey joins me to introduce the idea of restorative justice to my Reformed Christians audience. We discuss the concepts, principles, roots, and practice of restorative justice. How it's been successfully integrated with, and sometimes replacing, the criminal legal system, as well as adoption of the principles in various schools as a means of conflict resolution. Most importantly, we discuss it's efficacy not only one it's own merit, but by comparison with the obvious failure of the current criminal legal system.

Join Kerry Baldwin with Kathleen McGoey as we Dare to Think about Restorative Justice and Christianity.

Main Points of Discussion

00:00 Introduction

01:27 What is the purpose of restorative justice?

05:22 How restorative justice aims at healing relationships in addition to providing restitution.

13:18 Is restorative justice effective at producing deterrence and reducing recidivism?

21:54 Devil's advocate questions: why should I care about rehabilitating criminals?

27:00 Are there some people restorative justice won't work for?

33:02 Is restorative justice a solution for domestic violence and similar abuses?

39:33 What are the roots of restorative justice, and are they compatible with Christianity?

44:14 Summary/Conclusion

Resource Links

Restorative Justice Tools https://restorativeteachingtools.com/

The Little Book of Restorative Teaching Tools: Games, Activities, and Simulations for Understanding Restorative Justice Practices (Justice and Peacebuilding) https://amzn.to/3UNUjpr

Hire Kathleen! https://www.kathleenmcgoey.com/

How to Love Your Enemy: A Restorative Justice Story (Free the People Documentary) https://freethepeople.org/how-to-love-your-enemy-a-restorative-justice-story/