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Crime can be understood as violating behavior which necessitates a social response and not only a legal one. Psychological effects of crimes are common, but can be tackled using mediation or methods of restorative justice. A methodology known as the Sycamore Tree Project (STP), which has been running since 1996 in more than 30 countries all over the world, has shown positive effects in victim support. This programme has been given in some European countries, but there has never been a coordinated effort to spread this methodology across Europe and in different settings in prisons and in the community. Building Bridges implemented the program in seven European countries (Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain) in different settings inside and outside of prisons, and trained facilitators in the methodology. The project is now working towards the final conference in November 2015 in Rome.
Crime can be understood as violating behavior which necessitates a social response and not only a legal one. Victims suffer from a number of effects in the aftermath of a crime: physical, psychological, financial, and social effects, and are therefore increasingly vulnerable to mental illness, traumatisation, or lower productivity than the general population. Psychological effects of crimes are common, but can be tackled using mediation or methods of restorative justice. A methodology known as the Sycamore Tree Project (STP), which has been running since 1996 in more than 30 countries all over the world, has shown positive effects in victim support. In the original STP methodology unrelated victims and offenders are brought together in prisons in a 5-8 weeks intensive programme dealing with crime effects. Victims get the possibility to speak to offenders to share their experiences with an offense and the impact is has on their lives in the aftermath of crime. Through the mix of unrelated offenders and victims in this restorative mediation programme, offenders also gain a chance of changing their perspective about their crime, its effect in the lives of victims and a chance to work on values (like respect, empathy and accountability) and behavior change. This programme has been given in some European countries with offenders and victims, but there has never been a coordinated effort to spread this methodology across Europe and in different settings in prisons and in the community.
Therefore Building Bridges, a two year project, aims at exploring possibilities of transfer for STP to those European countries without such programmes and further adaptation of the programme in a multi-cultural settings inside and outside prisons. Securing the support for victims in this process is one of the main focusses of Building Bridges.
Right now, July 2015, the project is working towards the final conference in November 2015 in Rome. The Building Bridges programme will be or has been implemented 14 times in seven European countries (Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain) in different settings inside and outside of prisons, and facilitators are trained in the methodology. Building Bridges will undergo a comprehensive evaluation in order to be able to contribute to an evidence base for enabling and hindering factors of victim support on a European-wide basis.
The main outputs and deliverables of Building Bridges are
For more information, see http://restorative-justice.eu/bb or contact project leader Joost de Jager at Gevangenenzorg Nederland, [email protected], Telephone +31 79 3310 568.