Part of the IN-CJ Global Dialogue Newsdesk, this session was coordinated by Brian Johnston of the Candle Trust, who offer educational, social and developmental programmes, for young people which provide a therapeutic space and youth service. Candle is committed to meeting the needs of all the young people and support them in reaching their full potential.

Today we hosted the THIRD international webinar of this year on the topic of probation. In this webinar we opened up a conversation about how the experience of rapid change during the pandemic, and how practice has been affected. Our discussion aimed to think about what will be the long-term impact on the supervision of offenders in the community. Our question was: how has on-line contact affected work? What is the role of telephone technology?

The event was co-chaired by Professor Ioan Durnescu from Bucharest University, Romania and Sonia Flynn, CBE, Chief Probation Officer and Director Women, HM Prison and Probation Service, England and Wales.

The programme included presentations from different parts of the world:

* An Introduction to the Use of On-line Technology in Probation Supervision – Professor Ioan Durnescu, University of Bucharest, Romania.

* Cell Phones to the Rescue: leveraging technology to improve supervision outcomes – Professor Ron Corbett, University of Massachusetts, Lowell, USA.

* Future Priorities for Tech Development in Probation – Panel discussion

Each presentation was followed by questions from the audience. In answering these questions, the presenters are joined by round-table experts.

In this episode of the IN-CJ podcast, John Scott spoke with Claudia Mazzucato who is an Associate Professor of Criminal Law at the Catholic University in Milan, Italy and a Restorative Justice Practitioner. The discussion considered how there is a need for a form of restorative justice for the people of Italy as they take stock of the impact of the pandemic, and the need for a sense of public justice that avoids punitive responses while respecting and acknowledging the sense of anger and grief that many people feel.

Today we hosted our second international webinar of this year on the topic of Restorative Justice. In this webinar we opened up a conversation about the dynamics behind the transfer of restorative justice knowledge across countries and sectors, by uncovering the systemic and cultural factors that foster the dissemination and sustainability of restorative justice ideas in different services, organisations and at various system levels.

The programme includes presentations from different parts of the world:

* Dr Anamaria Oprea (De Montfort University, UK) opens up the discussion by highlighting the key elements of knowledge transfer dynamics in the case of restorative justice.

* Mary Ivec (School of Regulation and Global Governance, Australia), Dr Fiona Tito Wheatland (Enduring Solutions, Australia) and Dr Janet Hope (University of Canberra, Australia) discuss next about the restorative reform that has been initiated a few years ago across the Canberra community.

* Dr Luke Roberts (Resolve Consultants, UK) exemplifies the process of restorative knowledge transfer in a number of schools in England by using evidence from his doctoral studies.

* Branka Peurača (Creative Social Work Association, Croatia) concludes with a discussion of how restorative justice came to be introduced in her home country, highlighting the key international pressures that shaped the dynamics of knowledge transfer.

Each presentation was followed by questions from the audience. In answering these questions, the presenters were joined by John Scott (IN-CJ, UK) as Chair, and round-table experts Gale Burford (University of Vermont, US), Edit Törzs (European Forum for Restorative Justice, Belgium), and Vivian Geiran (Trinity College Dublin, Ireland).

Presenters Bios

Dr Anamaria Oprea: Ana holds a graduate degree in Social Work with a major in Probation studies, and a post-graduate degree in Community Justice at the University of Bucharest. Ana obtained her PhD in 2010 with a national evaluation of the probation system in Romania. Ana’s research interests have always sat at the crossroad between social work and criminal justice. Ana has a keen interest in exploring the use of participatory and restorative approaches in direct work with marginalised populations, including offenders, victims and survivors of different crimes, families in which child abuse and neglect is present, and young people committing or being victims of crime. Ana has published both in English and Romanian in a variety of formats; she is the co-author of the first guide to penal mediation in Romania, and is currently working on a Romanian translation of the UN second edition of the Handbook on Restorative Justice Programmes. Ana is currently sitting in the Social Work team at De Montfort University, and leads the Social Care Learning and Development Hub. Ana is also a founding member of the East Midlands Restorative Justice Forum, a local network of professionals interested in the development of local restorative justice practice.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @DrAnamariaSzabo

Mary Ivec: Mary holds post-graduate degrees in social policy, social work and counselling having completed her Bachelor of Arts (Sociology and Politics) at the Australian National University. Mary has over 30 years’ experience in human services ranging from the not-for-profit sector, government policy development, community development, social work education and clinical practice as a mental health social worker specialising in cross-cultural and trauma counselling. Mary commenced working at the School of Regulation and Gl...

Today we hosted our second international webinar of this year on the topic of Restorative Justice. In this webinar we opened up a conversation about the dynamics behind the transfer of restorative justice knowledge across countries and sectors, by uncovering the systemic and cultural factors that foster the dissemination and sustainability of restorative justice ideas in different services, organisations and at various system levels.

The programme includes presentations from different parts of the world:

* Dr Anamaria Oprea (De Montfort University, UK) opens up the discussion by highlighting the key elements of knowledge transfer dynamics in the case of restorative justice.

* Mary Ivec (School of Regulation and Global Governance, Australia), Dr Fiona Tito Wheatland (Enduring Solutions, Australia) and Dr Janet Hope (University of Canberra, Australia) discuss next about the restorative reform that has been initiated a few years ago across the Canberra community.

* Dr Luke Roberts (Resolve Consultants, UK) exemplifies the process of restorative knowledge transfer in a number of schools in England by using evidence from his doctoral studies.

* Branka Peurača (Creative Social Work Association, Croatia) concludes with a discussion of how restorative justice came to be introduced in her home country, highlighting the key international pressures that shaped the dynamics of knowledge transfer.

Each presentation was followed by questions from the audience. In answering these questions, the presenters were joined by John Scott (IN-CJ, UK) as Chair, and round-table experts Gale Burford (University of Vermont, US), Edit Törzs (European Forum for Restorative Justice, Belgium), and Vivian Geiran (Trinity College Dublin, Ireland).

Presenters Bios

Dr Anamaria Oprea: Ana holds a graduate degree in Social Work with a major in Probation studies, and a post-graduate degree in Community Justice at the University of Bucharest. Ana obtained her PhD in 2010 with a national evaluation of the probation system in Romania. Ana’s research interests have always sat at the crossroad between social work and criminal justice. Ana has a keen interest in exploring the use of participatory and restorative approaches in direct work with marginalised populations, including offenders, victims and survivors of different crimes, families in which child abuse and neglect is present, and young people committing or being victims of crime. Ana has published both in English and Romanian in a variety of formats; she is the co-author of the first guide to penal mediation in Romania, and is currently working on a Romanian translation of the UN second edition of the Handbook on Restorative Justice Programmes. Ana is currently sitting in the Social Work team at De Montfort University, and leads the Social Care Learning and Development Hub. Ana is also a founding member of the East Midlands Restorative Justice Forum, a local network of professionals interested in the development of local restorative justice practice.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @DrAnamariaSzabo

Mary Ivec: Mary holds post-graduate degrees in social policy, social work and counselling having completed her Bachelor of Arts (Sociology and Politics) at the Australian National University. Mary has over 30 years’ experience in human services ranging from the not-for-profit sector, government policy development, community development, social work education and clinical practice as a mental health social worker specialising in cross-cultural and trauma counselling. Mary commenced working at the School of Regulation and Gl...

In this episode of the IN-CJ podcast, John Scott talks with Conor Kelly and Ciara Harris about the challenges of working in the Probation in Ireland during lockdown.

In this episode of the IN-CJ Podcast, John Scott talks with Phil Maguire of the Prison Radio Association, and the challenges of providing information and companionship for people in prison during the lockdown. Phil shares his experience of establishing National Prison Radio, and how the international community for prison radio is growing.

Phil mentioned his programme about his experience in the launch of Rise Maximum Radio, based inside Trinidad and Tobago’s Maximum Security Prison which is available on the BBC World Service.

Phil is also a host of the Secret Life of Prisons podcast.

In the second of a new series of IN-CJ podcasts, John Scott talks with practitioners in the field of criminal justice about the challenges of maintaining criminal justice services, and keeping people in prisons safe and Covid-19 free. In this episode John talks with Katja Voh and Roman Oresnick of the Prison Service of Slovenia, about the challenges of pandemic and the lockdown of prison and probation services.

In the first of a new series of IN-CJ podcasts, John Scott talks with practitioners in the field of criminal justice about the challenges of maintaining criminal justice services, and keeping people in prisons safe and Covid-19 free. In this episode John talks with Miikka Mölsä, a senior corrections official in an open prison in Finland, about the challenges of pandemic and the lockdown of prison and probation services.

This latest episode of the Decentered Media Podcast features Jamie Grundy, author of Ninety Minutes of Freedom. The story of the only prisoner football team in Wales, during the 2018/19 season. In the book Jamie explains how football is more than just a game for the men of HMP Prescoed, and how being part of a regular football team helps them to adjust to society, assists their anger management, and prepares them for a future away from jail. Jamie has a background in community development and prison education, and is one of the people behind Inside Out Support Wales, which aims to offer “support and guidance for people with convictions” and to”work with people coming out of prison who want to set up in self-employment, access further or higher education or enter into employment.