Restorative Solutions: How to Address Hate Crime

As mentioned in our opening blog, the Restorative Solutions team has been very proactive in finding new ways to continue delivering our services throughout the pandemic - including full-day training sessions for students.

Here's a third example of how Restorative Solutions has adapted our approach in recent months...

Hate Crimes

Hate crimes can have a significant direct impact on victims and undermine wider community confidence. Restorative Justice (RJ) can be effective in tackling prejudice, providing victims with a voice, and promoting understanding of the impact of hate crimes. 

Since 2018 Restorative Solutions in partnership with Hampshire Constabulary and the Office of Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC), has facilitated Hate Crime Awareness Courses for hate-based crimes in Hampshire. 

Restorative Solutions: Hate Crime Awareness

One of Restorative Solutions' newest products developed by our RJ Hampshire team is the delivery of one and a half to two-hour sessions to people referred by police to RJ Hampshire as part of an out of court disposal. 

We are training Restorative Solutions' staff nationally to be proficient in delivering this powerful and challenging Hate Crimes Awareness course to address this too common area of offending.

About Restorative Solutions' Hate Crime Awareness Courses

The Hate Crime Awareness Course consists of two questionnaires and 6 exercises that look at what happened, the impact of hate crime on the victim, and how the harmer could have behaved differently then and in future. 

Restorative Solutions' Hate Crime Awareness Course aims to:

• Challenge prejudice and hostility and promote understanding using restorative interventions

• Provide continuing support and opportunity for victims to engage in restorative justice (RJ)

• Manage offenders and hold them to account

• Support Hampshire Constabulary and the Police and Crime Commissioners Restorative Justice (RJ) Strategy.

The Hate Crime Awareness Course was written based on restorative approaches. Restorative approaches focus on repairing harm which has been caused by looking at what happened, what people were thinking/feeling at the time, what they think/feel about it now, who was affected, and what needs to happen to repair the harm.

On the second questionnaire, there is a question for the harmer: 'Has completing the Hate Crime Awareness Course made you feel differently about the behaviour which caused you to attend the Restorative Solutions course?'

Here are some responses:

- Yes, made me more aware of the impact of my actions and different approaches I should have taken
- Yes, because I'm aware of the way it has affected the other person
- Yes, I shouldn't have said what I said
- Yes, because it gave me more information on how it affects peoples lives
- Yes, I now have a better understanding of what hate crime is

Find out more about Hate Crime Awareness Courses

Restorative Solutions is a not-for-profit Community Interest Company (CIC). We are committed to supporting frontline practitioners working in the community and the public sector by creating and managing innovative programmes, delivering training and services to enable the use of restorative practice, restorative justice and restorative approaches.

Find out more about Restorative Solutions' training.