The Danger of a Single Narrative

Tim Chapman on the healing power of honoring each other’s stories in practices of restorative justice.

Tim Chapman, restorative justice practitioner, trainer and former chairperson and board member of the European Forum for Restorative Justice, comes to talk with Stephanie on this episode of Nonviolence Radio. Together, they explore the practice of and principles behind restorative justice, the ways in which it is able to offer a kind of lasting resolution to all parties involved in a conflict – including the larger community in which it happened. Restorative justice is a way to ‘to move out of that sense of antagonism’, often cultivated in traditional legal systems, and instead into a place where everyone listens, everyone is acknowledged and everyone tries hard to understand the stories of others. 

I think in listening to somebody who you believe was your enemy and listening to his story, not necessarily saying it's all true, I don’t agree with everything, but really trying to understand how they've come to that position that made them – is the beginning of a transformation away from that sort of simple label of ‘you are my enemy’, towards you are a human being.

It is only with a renewed sense that we are all human – albeit, with very different backgrounds and experiences – that we can act decently, hold ourselves and others accountable and truly forgive. 

Transcript archived at Waging Nonviolence [pending]