Our process

Space2face is a unique restorative practices service as we combine art, design and making activities with restorative practices.

 

The creative approach

We use these creative approaches when working with participants as it supports communication, inclusion, accessibility and working through traumatic events.

​​

Some restorative practices rely on participants being able to sit still for long periods and talk through what has happened. We believe using creative approaches support those who may find reading, writing or talking difficult.

 

People harmed through crime (a victim) or people responsible for causing crime (a perpetrator) are also more likely to have had experienced traumatic events in childhood (these are known as Adverse Childhood Experiences, or ACEs). Trauma is hard to speak about, working creatively is a way for participants to communicate non-verbally about what has happened.​​​

​

The Restorative process

Restorative Practices or Restorative Justice is the process we follow. It is practised all over the world and is only completed voluntarily by participants. It always involves these things;​

​

• The Facts - we look at what has happened.

• The Consequences - we look at the consequences of what has happened for those involved/affected.

• The Future - we look at what needs to happen next. This might be an apology, for example, or an agreement as to how to manage seeing the other person in public​*​

​​

*(for ‘Facts, Consequences, Future’ terminology we are indebted to: Brookes, D. (2002). Restorative Justice Training Manual. SACRO.)

​

 

What kind of crimes or situations can Space2face help with? ​

Restorative Practices can potentially be used for any type of harm or crime. No-one knows the impact of even a seemingly minor incident, only the people involved. There are certain offences which need to be facilitated with extra sensitivity and skill such as gendered violence and hate crime. However, with appropriately trained facilitators Restorative Practices can still support those harmed by these types of offences. Clair (our Director-Practitioner) and Gael (one of our Restorative Practitioners) have undertaken additional training to work with those affected by gendered violence. Our team also has expertise in hate crime and political violence.

 

The following short film shows how Restorative Justice can be used in a situation of crime. In this case there is recurring trauma for the person harmed, and the person responsible learns of this.