For Immediate Release                 

For more information, contact:
Laura Mirsky, lauramirsky@iirp.org
IIRP Media Relations
(267) 718-7374

International Institute for Restorative Practices Professor Helps Develop United Nations Restorative Justice Handbook

(Bethlehem, Pa., January 12, 2007) — Dr. Paul McCold, a founding faculty member of the International Institute for Restorative Practices (IIRP), a graduate school based in Bethlehem, Pa., was one of the international experts who reviewed the “Handbook on Restorative Justice Programmes,” just published by the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crimes Criminal Justice Reform Unit. McCold is also the chair of the Alliance of NGOs on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, a United Nations working group that has been instrumental in helping to bring restorative justice to the attention of that world organization.

The Handbook is an introduction to the theory and practice of restorative justice and a guide for nations and practitioners that wish to implement restorative justice.

Restorative justice, processes that involve victims, offenders and their family and friends in determining how best to repair the harm of offending and criminal behavior, is a form of restorative practices, an emerging field of study that enables people to restore and build community in an increasingly disconnected world.

The Handbook is “a major roadmap for criminal justice reform,” said McCold. “Besides explicit and consistent terms and definitions, it provides inspiration and examples of current restorative justice programs from a variety of countries and cultures.”

The publication of the Handbook, added McCold, “elevates restorative justice to the level of United Nations basic principles on the conduct for law enforcement officials, the independence of the judiciary, treatment of prisoners, administration of juvenile justice, and justice for victims of crime.”

Dr. McCold was a member of an international Experts Group, which reviewed a draft of the Handbook last January at United Nations Headquarters, in Vienna, Austria.

Dr. McCold teaches courses at the International Institute for Restorative Practices (IIRP), a graduate school that grants master’s degrees and certificates in restorative practices. Enrollment is now open for Spring 2007 courses, with a weekend schedule for working professionals.

The IIRP, a long-time world leader in the field of restorative practices, held the 9th of its international conferences in Bethlehem in October 2006, welcoming more than 300 professionals in education, criminal justice, social work and other disciplines.

For more information about the IIRP you can visit their website, http://www.iirp.org, or call 610-807-9221.

(A digital photograph of Dr. Paul McCold is availabe at: http://www.iirp.org/press_center/mccold.html. Suggested caption: Dr. Paul McCold, professor at the International Institute for Restorative Practices graduate school, based in Bethlehem, Pa., helped develop a handbook on restorative justice for the United Nations.)

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