It’s often said that storytelling is at the heart of restorative practice, so it’s ironic that communicating restorative justice and practice – if you like, telling our own story – often feels to be an uphill struggle.
The good news is that there are tried and tested ways to tell our story more effectively. The FrameWorks Institute has spent the last twenty years looking at how to talk about social issues and their Framing 101 resource has lots of top tips, of which these are some:
Don’t overdo the doom and gloom: you risk feeding leaving people feeling that nothing can be done.
Don’t go in for myth-busting: you risk reinforcing the very myths you want to bust.
Don’t beat people over the head with statistics: yes, facts are helpful but they only take you so far.
Do offer solutions: practical steps that we can take.
Do use metaphors: these help put things in a new light.
Do think about the order you say things in: start with values, put cause before effect, and big ideas before the details.
Why me? reframed restorative justice messaging is evident on their Twitter feed and website where, for example, they focus on positive messaging and avoid overuse of statistics. Why me? participated in a reframing programme facilitated by Transform Justice (focused on changing messaging around criminal justice) which led to a desire to develop work specifically on reframing restorative justice.
We’re excited by the chance to look more deeply at how we ‘frame’ restorative justice and practice, and delighted that Lucy Jaffe, Director of Why me?, will be joining our 14 June 2022 Conference on Communicating Restorative Justice and Practice to help us look at what ‘reframing’ our messaging means in practice. Restorative practitioners well understand the importance of what you say and how you say it, which I think gives us a head start. And if we tell our story well, we can change the landscape. In the words of the FrameWorks Institute: ‘When we change the story and how we tell it, we can change the world.’
If you want to be part of this reframing conversation do come along to our Conference – it will be an inspiring day!
Communicating Restorative Justice and Practice (One Day Conference)
Tuesday 14 June 2022
9:30am - 4:00pm
Online
More information and booking: https://www.minthouseoxford.co.uk/events/2022/6/14/commmunicating-restorative-practice-conference