Restorative Justice

Seehaus e.V. is a member of Prison Fellowship International (PFI), the largest international association of national Christian ministries working within the criminal justice field. It was founded in 1979 to serve (ex-) prisoners and their families as well as victims of crime through impact-based programs. PFI engages roundabout 500 full-time staff and board members, and trains, equips, and mobilizes approximately 33.000 volunteers in more than 115 countries.

In 1996, PFI launched the “Centre for Justice and Reconciliation” – as its online knowledge center on justice and reconciliation. The centre advocates the paradigm of Restorative Justice and educates the readers about restorative principles, policies and programs. Thereby it is assisting PFI affiliates to address injustices in the criminal justice and prison systems and to apply practical restorative measures. Its mission is: “to develop and promote restorative justice in criminal justice systems around the world.” (http://www.pficjr.org/)

There is a paradigm shift in Restorative Justice, compared to the criminal justice approach.  The focus of the Restorative Justice lies not on punishment, but on the damage done by crime – to the direct and indirect victims, the community and society at large, and even to the offender himself as well as his social environment. The victim perspective is thus at the center of Restorative Justice. The aim is to identify, address and restore this damage by including all stakeholders as much as possible in order to achieve personal as well as communal healing and restoration.