{"id":2108,"date":"2023-05-30T00:57:46","date_gmt":"2023-05-30T00:57:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leticialistening.com\/spaces-restorative-transitional-justice\/?p=2108"},"modified":"2023-05-30T01:00:47","modified_gmt":"2023-05-30T01:00:47","slug":"unity-unitarian-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/leticialistening.com\/spaces-restorative-transitional-justice\/unity-unitarian-church\/","title":{"rendered":"Unity Unitarian Church"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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CASE STUDIES<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Unity Unitarian Church<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Restorative Justice<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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1. Unity Unitarian Church, building<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
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2. Unity Unitarian Church, restorative circle<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
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3. Unity Unitarian Church, Circle of Peace gathering<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
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4. Unity Unitarian Church, participant holding talking piece<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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* For image references, please scroll to the bottom of the page.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Author of case study:<\/b>\u00a0Marcela Torres Molano<\/p>

Geopolitical location of space:<\/b>
733 Portland Avenue
St. Paul, Minnesota
55104<\/p>

Extant?\u00a0<\/b>Yes<\/p>

Architect:<\/b>
Original architect unknown<\/p>

Timeframe RJ\/TJ process in this space:<\/h2>

Start date: 2019
End date: ongoing<\/p>

Background information:<\/h2>

The Circles of Peace initiative, held inside the Unity Unitarian Church, is part of an official justice approach that allows first time offenders to go through a restorative justice process instead of a traditional court session. If the offender completes the program their record will be clean.<\/p>

Is restorative\u00a0 justice actually taking place in this space?<\/h2>

Yes, racial and restorative justice processes take place here, fostering encounters between offenders and survivors, with community members facilitating the process. All participants are able to talk about the incident in this space.<\/p>

Is this space designed\/arranged for safe listening?<\/h2>

Even though the space is not designed specifically for restorative justice purposes, it is arranged for group sessions where everyone gets to speak and everyone gets to be heard.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Who is the audience\/the intended participants for this space?<\/h2>

First time offenders who commit minor crimes will be allowed to resolve their cases in the restorative circle. After the offender completes the program the crime will be deleted from their record.\u00a0Under this model, first-time offenders can resolve their crimes through talking it out in a restorative circle, instead of going to court, paying fines or spending time in jail.<\/p>

How or to what extent is this space public?<\/b>
This is a private space inside of a Unitarian church. The space is not exclusively used for restorative justice practices. It is an interior space inside of a church.<\/p>

Physical\/factual description of space:<\/h2>

Saint Paul, the state capital of Minnesota, forms the \u201cTwin Cities\u201d with neighbouring Minneapolis. By 2018, it had a population of 307,695.<\/p>

Area of St. Paul church building: 48,000 sq.ft<\/p>

In 2013, the church building was expanded and renovated to include a revitalised entry courtyard, full accessibility on all levels of the facility, and new community gathering and educational spaces. The Circles of Peace are held in the centre room of the church, with a capacity of 25-30\u00a0 people.\u00a0It is an interior, central space without natural lighting or ventilation. The furniture is arranged to create a circle space that allows direct communication between participants. During the sessions the main element of the circles is a shining stone that serves as a talking piece.<\/p>

Analytical description of space:<\/h2>

The city attorney\u2019s office launched the\u00a0 ETHOS program, working in collaboration with the Dispute Resolution Center of Saint Paul, and the initiative Circle of Peace to help design the program and train the facilitators. Every circle begins with a healthy meal prepared by volunteers. The Circle of Peace has an indigenous origin of being \u2014 communicating, building and maintaining relationships.<\/p>

(ETHOS\u00a0 stands for Engaging community, Taking responsibility, Healing, Overcoming obstacles and Sustaining solutions.)<\/p>

There are two main rules for the circle space:
1. Only speak when you\u2019re holding the talking piece
2. What\u2019s said in the circle stays in the circle.<\/p>

They facilitate a weekly restorative-justice circle, a conversation intended to foster racial healing in the community. It began with the idea of communicating with families of St. Paul gang members, and later the city government adopted elements of circle practice for first-time offenders of minor crimes.<\/p>

One of the program\u2019s coordinators affirmed: \u201cWe find that it\u2019s the best accountability that you could offer someone because they\u2019re involved in how they want to repair the harm that they\u2019ve caused.\u201d The offender, the victim, and a community member facilitate the conversation around the incident. Community members get training from the expert and other facilitators to become \u201ccircle keepers\u201d. The facilitator helps the two participants talk about what happened, what caused it, and how it can be resolved. Even though the city of Saint Paul has worked with restorative approaches before, this is the first time it has implemented a formal program.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Bibliographic references:<\/strong><\/h5>