"During Terry O'Connell's presentation I was seized by an epiphany, a sudden intuitive realization that I had just encountered an essential universal truth. Conferencing was so simple that it was elegant, so basic that it was complete. Nothing in my experience with young offenders could match the positive outcomes being described by this Australian police officer. I wanted to bring family group conferencing to North America where we lead the world in escalating juvenile crime and school misconduct."
— Ted Wachtel, founder of Real Justice
From Wagga Wagga, Australia, to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, a revolution is taking place in how police, courts, schools and workplaces respond to wrongdoing. Instead of just doling out punishment to offenders, we are changing our criminal justice and disciplinary systems to address the harm done to victims and the community. Based in ancient tribal practices, REAL JUSTICE involves victims, offenders and their families and friends in a face-to-face process called "conferencing."
In his new book, REAL JUSTICE, Ted Wachtel offers a moving and powerful account of the growth and development of conferencing in New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States through true stories of victims and offenders in real life encounters. In vivid testimony, we see victims confront shoplifters and vandals, bullies and arsonists with their emotions. Offenders usually shed their "tough guy" images and come away with empathy and understanding for those they have harmed -not only their victims, but their own families as well.
Conferencing holds offenders accountable and satisfies victims more effectively than our courts and school disciplinary processes. REAL JUSTICE brings us hope for a better future.
About the Author
Ted Wachtel and his wife, Susan Wachtel, both former teachers, founded the Community Service Foundation in 1977 to provide specialized educational, counseling and residential services for troubled and delinquent youth. He also co-authored TOUGHLOVE, the bestselling book for parents of troubled adolescents. In 1994, he established the Real Justice program to bring conferencing to North America.
