Restorative Justice

Simulator

The Restorative Justice Simulator (RJS) is a unique tool that churches, synagogues, mosques, faith based and community based organizations can access to educate people from all walks concerning the day to day realities of life - behind the walls, as a relative of someone incarcerated, and as a citizen returning from incarceration. RJS is a means to promote a greater understanding of the criminal justice and restorative justice movement in an effort to inspire the faith community to become more engaged to in criminal justice issues.

Simulation strategy is based on the notion that people are more inclined toward action if they are able to visualize a situation and subsequently sense, feel, and empathize with a scenario. Simulation is a reproduction of an item or event. Learning Simulations can be produced in all fields through computer games, role-plays, or replications. But a result oriented learning simulation has a specific goal in mind—“to mimic, or model, a real system so that we can explore it, perform experiments, and gain an understanding prior to implementation into the real world. The development of the simulator enables the user to visually present, in this instance, the criminal justice system in vignettes that communicate process, system, experience, gaps and alternatives that an individual may encounter. Exposure to this type of ‘safe’ learning incubator will inspire members from the faith community to see opportunities for their engagement and the role they can and must have.