The use of restorative practices to reduce prison gang violence: Lessons on transforming cultures of violence

• Date: 01 December 2018
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/crq.21237
• Author: Maristela Carrara,Jordan J. Nowotny
• Published date: 01 December 2018

RESEARCH ARTICLE

The use of restorative practices to reduce prison

gang violence: Lessons on transforming cultures

of violence

Jordan J. Nowotny | Maristela Carrara

Social Sciences and History Department, Fairleigh

Dickinson University, Madison, New Jersey

Correspondence

Jordan J. Nowotny, Social Sciences and History

Department, Fairleigh Dickinson University,

285 Madison Avenue, Madison, NJ 07940.

Email: nowotny@fdu.edu

Funding information

Fairleigh Dickinson University

In 2016, one of the largest and most violent prisons in

Brazil trained staff to use restorative circles to help medi-

ate gang-related conflicts. To better understand how

restorative practices are envisioned and being implemen-

ted in this setting, and to evaluate the likelihood that this

project continues, semistructured interviews were con-

ducted with prisoners and institutional staff. We argue

that, although the initial levels of violence are reportedly

lower, understandings of restorative philosophies are fil-

tered through a narrow security rationale that limits insti-

tutional and cultural change.

1|INTRODUCTION

In the first week of 2017, prison riots in northern Brazil resulted in more than 100 deaths. These

deaths, according to international media outlets, were caused by extreme overcrowding, gang war-

fare, and insufficient food and security (BBC News, 2017). Over the last half century, Brazilian

prisons have become notorious for violence and inhumane conditions. Local and international

scholars have linked these problems to structural issues, including social inequality and economic

stratification (Morenoff, Sampson, & Raudenbush, 2001; Wacquant, 2008). According to a United

Nations Development Program Report released in 2016, Brazil's prison population has increased by

74% over the last 10 years, with many of the newly incarcerated being women and Brazilians of Afri-

can descent.

Since at least the 1990s, political leaders in Brazil have been divided on how best to deal with

gang violence. On one side are those who have pushed for increased zero-tolerance, militaristic mea-

sures, and arguments resulting in mass incarceration. For the most part, this perspective has won out,

but has had a minimal impact on crime rates throughout the years (Wacquant, 2003, 2008). On the

other side, advocates for alternatives to repressive measures have made some legal headway, espe-

cially in combating juvenile crime. The Children and Adolescent Act of 1990 enabled some judges to

Received: 1 June 2018 Revised: 6 July 2018 Accepted: 8 July 2018

DOI: 10.1002/crq.21237

© 2018 Association for Conflict Resolution and Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Conflict Resolution Quarterly. 2018;36:131–144. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/crq 131