2015 Association for Women in Psychology Conference

Dramatic episodes of violence, such as the school shootings at Sandy Hook elementary, and the shootings of 17 year-old Trayvon Martin and 17 year-old Jordan Davis in 2012 instigate an immediate burst of interest in restorative justice and violence prevention that disappears as quickly as it appeared. A stable community network dedicated to ending interpersonal violence is needed across the USA. This symposium consists of three presentations describing different forms of community building to engender grass roots support for restorative justice. Each effort integrates violence education so that potential community members understand the reality of violence and the need to become an advocate for change in support of victims. The first presentation covers building grassroots support for victims of violence through a four day, campus and community conference. Building a network amongst the interdisciplinary attendees was an overt goal of the conference. The second presentation covers community building through transformational curricula that integrate violence education and advocacy into the classroom experience. The final presentation covers how the “We Can Prevent Violence” Facebook group was used to build an on-line, violence prevention community. Each of these presentations will include the goals of the initiative, the types of communities that were developed, the successes and failures that were experienced, and any gender effects that were noted. Key to restorative justice is building many different types of communities nationwide that have no tolerance for acts of violence and who strongly believe in the power of nonviolence to transform communities into safe places (Veith, 2014). Community wellness could be substantially improved if restorative justice was available to support victim’s healing and if interpersonal violence was eradicated to prevent further victimization (Brown et. al 2009; Felitti, 2002; WHO 2006).