Imprisonment in Ireland is intergenerational and has become a way of life for some

Sunday next, November 6th, has been designated Prisoner’s Sunday, a day when we are asked to remember people in prison. I remember when Prisoner Sunday was also known as Restorative Justice Sunday and was, I believe, a more inclusive meaningful concept because, restorative justice embraces all of us – victims, perpetrators and communities alike.

It is offered as an inclusive healing response to all. During the month of November too, the International Restorative Justice Week will take place from the 20th to the 25th, thus drawing our attention to the importance of this integral element of living justice.

As a former prison chaplain, people in prison and their families are never far from my mind and, as I remember them, I remember people who are victims of crime and their families. I remember too people living in communities most affected by crime. I carry them all in my heart.

With the approach of Prisoner Sunday and International Restorative Justice Week, let’s begin a conversation with open minds and hearts

I became part of a prison community during my 20 years as a prison chaplain and during that time I slowly began to question the effectiveness of the current criminal justice system in addressing the issue of crime. I met the same people entering the system again and again.

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I witnessed the stress and frustration of the mentally ill and people suffering the scourge of addiction who were in the inappropriate setting of a prison. I listened to life stories and, above, all I realised that the majority of the people I met on a daily basis came from some of the most socially and economically deprived areas of our towns and cities.

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Gradually I no longer questioned. I knew. The people I met knew it too but were unable to verbalise it. They were told who and what they were until they came to believe it themselves. It was just the way things were. Imprisonment in Ireland is intergenerational and for many marginalised families it has become a way of life with no means of breaking the cycle.

Regularly, I mused on what an alternative might be like as I believed that there had to be another way. It was at this time that I was introduced to the concept of restorative justice. I recognised its inherent potential as a way to move from an adversarial punitive retributive model of justice to a more restorative and healing one, one that recognised the needs of all affected by crime, including victims and local communities.

Another glimmer of hope emerged with the establishment of the National Commission on Restorative Justice in 2007. With the publication of the final report in 2009 that glimmer of hope turned to a flame of anticipation only to fade again as the system remained unchallenged and unchanged by society in general.

The report and its recommendations, like many other such reports and recommendations, slowly and imperceptibly slipped from our agenda and we continued to do what we always did even if what we were doing was not working.

The report defined restorative justice in these words: “Restorative justice is a victim-sensitive response to criminal offending, which, through engagement with those affected by crime, aims to make amends for the harm that has been caused to victims and communities and which facilitates offender rehabilitation and integration into society.”

We could be creators of a future full of hope. The choice is ours, where there’s a will there’s a way

The report recommended to the minister for justice, equality and law reform that a restorative perspective be introduced nationally into the criminal justice system.

The criminal justice system needs to be urgently renewed and reshaped to bring it into the 21st century, and into line with new psychological insights and new understandings of human behaviour. The document Restorative Justice: Strategies for Change 2019-2023, while outlining some developments that have taken place since the commission’s final report, states: “None of the developments will eliminate the patchy nature of restorative justice service provision. Most victims and offenders are still not being offered the opportunity to engage each other in a facilitated dialogue – the most effective model of restorative justice for supporting victim recovery and reducing reoffending (Shapland, et al, 2011).”

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Could there be a clue to the way forward in Pope Francis’s emphasis on the need for synodality as a modus operandi: all involved – victims, perpetrators, prison personnel, justice seekers, affected families, policy shapers, political leaders, academics, people with personal experience of the current system – no one excluded, all listening deeply to each other until the cultural arrogance is drained out of us and we seek together a way forward that facilitates healing for all, that offers hope to all. We could be creators of a future full of hope. The choice is ours, where there’s a will there’s a way.

With the approach of Prisoner Sunday and International Restorative Justice Week, let’s begin a conversation with open minds and hearts.

Sr Imelda Wickham is a former prison chaplain and author of Unheard Voices: Reflections of a Prison Chaplain (Messenger Publications)