"Conferencing Handbook: The New Real Justice Training Manual" by Terry O'Connell, Ben Wachtel and Ted Wachtel is a clearly conceived procedural guide to coordinating and facilitating conferences, covering the process of selecting cases, inviting participants, making preparations and running the conference itself. It is useful to anyone who wants to learn to facilitate conferences in school, criminal justice and other settings.
The handbook begins with a chapter called "The Script," which presents the conference script and discusses its origins, the psychological and sociological theory used to develop the script, and the reasons why one would use a script.
Chapter 2, "When to Run a Conference," discusses criteria for deciding whether to run a conference, who should facilitate conferences, needs of victims, and when a conference is not appropriate.
Chapter 3, "Conference Preparation," provides detailed instruction on choosing a time and place for a conference, selecting and inviting participants, developing a seating plan, and making preparations.
Chapter 4, "Running the Conference," takes the reader through the conference process, from setting up before the conference and seating participants to reaching an agreement and closing the conference. Each section of the script is explained with suggestions on how to handle various situations that arise.
Chapter 5, "Establishing a Conferencing Program," offers advice to program coordinators, complemented by a plethora of sample literature and forms from actual conferencing programs, including Central City Neighborhoods Partnership (Minnesota), Piedmont Dispute Resolution Center (Virginia), and Hawke's Bay Restorative Justice Te Puna Wai Ora (New Zealand).
The last chapter, "Restorative Practices -- Beyond the Formal Conference," provides a framework, examples and practical suggestions for incorporating the language and philosophy of the conference script in a range of less formal restorative interventions.
The 168-page Handbook includes several illustrative diagrams, a preparation checklist, a conference seating planner, and data forms for record-keeping and conference evaluation. Quotes in the side margins highlight key points from the text.
