Across the world, we are living under a version of capitalism that is making the majority of us poorer. We’re working harder and earning less. We’re losing face-to-face community and still reeling from the isolation of covid. We’re watching wars unfold over which we feel we have no control and the media is designing itself to divide us.

Are we surprised that there are rioters out there, taking violence to our streets, carrying on the baton of destruction and starting literal fires in our streets? Do we have a responsibility to them, just as we do to Muslim and POC members of our community?

Let’s talk about the British prison system.

• FACT: It’s a profiting business.

• FACT: It’s overcrowded and dysfunctioning. Suicide is on the rise.

• FACT: It doesn’t have to be this way.

Last week it was announced to the public that some of the rioters in Hull received prison sentences: 18 months to 6 years. Their families watched from the gallery. The targeted communities wounded and scared. The rest of Hull seething in shame from the ugliness of it all.

Anger and pain come from somewhere and they have to go somewhere.

Is it good that action was taken quickly and the police put handcuffs on violent people? What will they learn from being institutionalised and degraded and forgotten about? Will the community benefit from those 6 years the offenders spend in prison? How?

Introducing the idea of transformative justice

"I believe that when we are in relationship with each other, we influence each other. What matters to me [...] is relationships. When we talk about repair and restorative justice, it’s all about relationships, and relationships in the context of harm" ~ Mariame Kaba

When it comes to punishment: who gets to decide? Have we really listened to the communities that were targeted by the riots? What action do they want to see? What knowledge and experience can they bring to the resolution?

It’s possible many would feel safe knowing the rioters are locked up. It’s also possible that they believe in something else. Let’s look to Liverpool: Liverpool saw a Mosque open up to build their own bridges with the rioters they faced by handing out food. Their community confronted the anger and pain that was aimed at them and proved that social connection can transform behaviour. They proved that food is a healer. And that anger towards them is misdirected. The police also made several arrests. This incredible act of care from the Muslim community is inspirational. What can we learn from it?

Transformative justice is a way to respond to violence and harm without creating more violence and harm. A way to respond within our own communities in a way that doesn’t rely on police, prisons and court systems. Transformative justice builds healing, connection & trust in our communities. This process looks at the context, and asks: what’s the environment that’s allowed this violence and harm to happen? And how can we think about preventing this violence and harm?

This isn’t a new idea, and like everything else in life, it’s probably imperfect. But it’s worth thinking about.

The courage to imagine: examples of alternative methods and practices of justice

The Zapatistas are a group of indigenous people in rural Mexico who have been fighting for independence for decades. Although our contexts are very different, we can learn a lot from their efforts to create alternate ways of living, working and organising in their communities.

The Zapatistas have some interesting ideas around justice. They take a ‘restorative’ approach to crime, with sentences mainly being community service and fines. If jail sentences are given, they almost never exceed a few days. Meanwhile Zapatista security are neither armed nor uniformed. They are elected by the community, are not paid and are regularly rotated. Each local Zapatista community has its own security, which it elects and controls collectively.

This is a very different context to Hull or Southport, but what can we learn? How can we challenge the role of the police? How do we want to think about punishment and justice in our own communities? Surely the answer to more crime is not to build more prisons. The answer is more complicated and requires more courage — the courage to imagine.

First and foremost, let’s start talking about what is and isn’t working in our society when it comes to keeping people safe.

• - How can we, as a proud city, full of great people, lead by example? How can we challenge the status quo and offer resolutions that feed our souls instead of starve them?

• - How much safer/heard/seen do you feel when you know the name of your neighbour? When the street lights on the pedestrian routes actually work? When the leaders in your community live in the area they work for?

• - What are the building blocks we can start to build now that will make transformative justice less of an alien concept?

So many questions! Let’s find the answers together.

Check out the in-person group held at Ground, on Beverley Road in Hull: Prison Abolition & Transformative Justice Group.

If you’re not in Hull, have a look in your area to see who’s having these conversations. Get yourself involved in the questioning…

22 August 2024

By Holly McGratten