University expert elected to national body aiming to prevent harm and conflict

University of Gloucestershire’s Dr Jonathan Hobson, Associate Professor of Social Sciences, has been elected to a national organisation that champions the positive impacts of restorative practice in preventing harm or conflict.

Dr Hobson (pictured), from the University’s School of Natural and Social Sciences, has been appointed to the board of the Restorative Justice Council (RJC) in recognition of his extensive research and expertise within the field of restorative justice and restorative practice.

The RJC sets and promotes clears standards for quality restorative practice in the criminal justice system, and in schools, in the workplace and within the wider community, as well as aiming to raise public awareness and confidence in restorative processes.

For more than a decade, Dr Hobson has taught and carried out extensive research around restorative practice, which can be used anywhere to prevent or resolve conflict, and justice, which brings together victims and perpetrators of crime, to find a positive way forward.

Elected as a trustee by the RJC membership, Dr Hobson will help to shape the organisation’s national strategic direction while sitting on the board. He is also part of its national research advisory group and policy and communications working group.

Dr Hobson will continue to sit on the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Restorative Justice advisory board, alongside his University academic colleague Dr Anamika Twyman-Ghoshal, and as a board member for Restorative Justice.

Dr Hobson said: “I am extremely proud to have been elected as membership trustee of the Restorative Justice Council and look forward to making a positive and valuable contribution to the organisation.

“I have broad experience across a range of different sectors, having worked in supported housing before becoming an academic and now working and research with partners in the police, prions, housing, education, youth justice, and post-conflict reconstruction.

“I am currently working with the RJC on projects around measuring successes in restorative justice and practice, and on broadening cultural and ethnic practitioner representation.

“Through this research I hope to increase the evidence base for restorative justice and practice, helping to illustrate the significant benefits these approaches have, the hard work that goes into this, and to also provide a guide for those developing services and policies that expand the field.”