 Restorative Justice: A New Field for Public Participation Etta M. and Desmond M. Connor Introduction From the earliest times, justice was part of community life. In the 11th and 12th centuries in England, courts began to take on the role of defending the crown; over time, justice became the business of judges and lawyers, and an increasingly complex and costly business too. Citizens were relegated to jury duty; justice became remote from the lives of ordinary people. The victims of crime found the results inadequate and dissatisfying; sentences often seemed irrelevant to all parties. A movement towards restorative justice (RJ) began in North America in the 1970s. One recent development, initially based on the community justice process of the Maoris of New Zealand is the family group conference; it was adopted by the NZ government in 1989, spread to Australia in 1991 and to the U.S. and Canada in the mid-90s. The family group conference uses a scripted format led by a facilitator for a meeting between the victim(s), the offender(s) and their respective support systems. The goal is to repair the harm caused by the incident. At the present time, RJ is primarily applied to first offenders charged with lesser crimes who may avoid the court system altogether; it is also used by school systems in disciplinary matters as a more effective alternative to suspensions. Correctional Service Canada is exploring its use also. In the spring of 1998 a national symposium in Vancouver, followed in B.C. by regional conferences on restorative justice led to the development of a provincial government policy for Community Accountability Programs. The Peninsula Crossroads Community Justice Program, see below, was formed as a result of what appears now as a national movement at the grass roots to implement a restorative justice philosophy, at least at the level of police diversion. Opening Reflection Reflect on your experience of the court system or the disciplinary side of the school system. (Make some notes.) What was the incident? How was it dealt with? How satisfied were you with the outcome? How satisfied were others involved in the incident? Without getting into the details of the incident, share your feelings about the outcome with someone else if you can. Restorative Justice RJ is a new framework for the criminal justice system that is rapidly gaining acceptance and support throughout B.C. and Canada. It is a philosophical framework which has been proposed as an alternative to the current way of thinking about crime and criminal justice which is usually concerned with punishment and retribution.. In the context of community, RJ emphasizes the ways in which crime harms relationships. Crime is viewed as a violation of the victim and the community, not as a violation of the state. The RJ model makes the offender accountable to the victim and the community. Accountability for offenders is defined in terms of taking responsibility for actions, and taking action to repair the harm caused to the victim and the community. It provides for immediate, active participation by the victim, the offender and the community in the process of repairing the fabric of community peace. As the parties to the offence meet to tell the story of the crime from their perspectives, emotion is expressed and valued, and understanding is developed. This foundation provides the meeting with the potential to conclude with a written agreement which is particular to the dispute, as well as achievable by the parties. The model values the parties voluntary and direct participation in this process, whose goal is to create a valid agreement which will resolve the injustice. A valid agreement must ensure that the debt is feasibly paid, and that the harm done is repaired. Following the completion of restitution, the RJ concept promotes the reintegration of both the victim and the offender into the community as whole and contributing members. Community and personal safety and peace are at the core of the RJ philosophy. It promotes community ownership through local involvement; it develops and implements justice programs which will reflect community values, as well as transforming community perceptions, relationships and structures. RJ is a framework through which we can all share our community peacemaking responsibilities.* RJ differs from the traditional justice and school disciplinary systems in a number of ways. Here's a comparison of the traditional with RJ.
Role Play In the IAP2 conference, the family group conference and its script were demonstrated, with the help of six volunteers who took the parts of those involved in a community incident. Roles included victim, offender, supporters, the arresting officer etc.; there was a closing discussion of the process.
The Peninsula Crossroads Community Justice Program: In the spring of 1999, several officials of School District #63 and community leaders in the district of Central Saanich (pop. 14,000), just north of Victoria, B.C., discussed the potential value of RJ in the community. A group of volunteers explored the concept and its use in a series of meetings and then began a public information and education program. Fortunately, the new editor of the local weekly newspaper had been involved in a successful RJ program in another community; she became part of the group and gave much valuable space to informative articles. S.D. #63 appointed a counsellor to the group; she became its chair for the first year. The principal of one of the major schools became Mayor of the municipality; its Police Board became favourably inclined towards RJ. The police chief appointed one of his school liaison officers to the group. The co-ordinator of volunteers, who had previously organized the training of many RJ facilitators in Greater Victoria, became a certified trainer and is thus able to provide training as needed. After a year of public education through newspaper articles, presentations at meetings of community organizations and school-sponsored events, the police began referring files to the program and family group conferences were held. A year later, some 21 conferences (involving 40 offenders) have been held, most with youths but some with adults; eight trained facilitators are active, together with six mentors for follow-up as needed. A two-day facilitator training program is about to be held with 22 participants. Recently, the program was asked to provide its service to the nearby RCMP detachment which serves two other municipalities of a similar size to Central Saanich. In the near future, two other municipalities in Greater Victoria, Oak Bay (pop. 18,000) and Saanich (pop. 106,000), will initiate similar programs. Opportunities for Public Participators In many cases, justice and school systems are not well-connected with their communities. Groups of citizens interested in RJ need to obtain a systematic understanding of their communities, develop and implement a program to educate and involve the public, make positive connections with system administrators, organize training for facilitators and arrange a follow-up by mentors with the participants after conferences occur. These are all skills which public participators can provide - check out the opportunities and needs in your community! Conclusion This outline and experience of RJ indicates that there are important opportunities for public participators to apply their skills and commitment in the communities where they live. We hope many will get involved! Currently, over 2 million North Americans are incarcerated with little or no programs to prepare them to become productive and socially responsible citizens on their release. There has to be a better way for society to deal with offenders. References Ross, Rupert, Returning to the Teachings: Exploring Aboriginal Justice, Penguin Books, Toronto, 1996. Satisfying Justice: A compendium of initiatives, programs and legislative measures, Church Council on Justice and Corrections, Ottawa, 1996. (About 100 brief and diverse cases.) Fax 613-237-6129. Wachtel, Ted, Real Justice: How we can revolutionize our response to wrongdoing, Piper's Press, Pipersville, Penn., 1997. Braithwaite, J., Crime, shame and reintegration, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1989. Zehr, Howard, Changing Lenses, Herald Press, Scottdale, Penn., 1990. Hadley, Michael L. (Ed.), The Spiritual Roots of Restorative Justice, State University of New York Press, Albany, N.Y., 2001. * The above section draws on the Arrowsmith RJ Program's manual, Parksville, B.C. Websites
Center for Restorative Justice and Peacemaking ssw.che.umn.edu/rjp (USA); Acknowlegement This paper was prepared for the annual conference of the Intl. Assn. for Public Participation in Vancouver, B.C., Canada, May 5-7, 2001. Biog. Notes Etta M. Connor of Victoria, B.C., is an adult educator and counsellor (M.Ed. OISE, University of Toronto, 1978); she is a certified trainer in RJ and leads the Peninsula Crossroads Community Justice Program. During the last 30 years, her major focus as been on employment opportunities for women, teaching inmates in a maximum security prison and employment counselling for a First Nations band. Tel. 250-658-8922; fax -8110. Desmond M. Connor of Victoria, B.C., is an applied sociologist-anthropologist (Ph.D., Cornell University, 1963) with an international practice in public participation. During the last 30 years, he has completed over 300 projects, mostly in Canada, some in the U.S. and since 1996 in the Philippines, Costa Rica, Portugal, Panama, Australia, Europe and Chile. See www.connor.bc.ca/connor Tel. 250-658-1323; fax -8110.
Transforming Relationships A new set of multimedia training tools for Restorative Justice facilitators. Following the First National RJ Symposium in Vancouver in 1996, over 70 community justice programs have developed across the Province British Columbia. Until now, many have had to rely on training materials produced in the U.S. or Australia. Sponsors: National Crime Prevention Strategy, Victoria Family Court/Youth Justice Committee, Coast Capital Savings Foundation, Victoria Health Shows, and Needs of Victorians. At the Premiere Showing at Camosun College, Victoria, on January 29, 2005, 120 people attended; 49 completed an evaluation form. Some excerpts appear below after each description of the videos.
Contents: Video 1 Transforming Relationships/Transforming Communities Canadian judges, RCMP trainers, RJ program coordinators and others are recognized for the wisdom derived from their experiences applying a justice process as a way of healing, of taking self-responsibility, of restoring respect. This video is also meant for use outside of a training program, to provide an introduction to Restorative Justice for the inquisitive. (18 mins.) "Clear information, excellent portrayal of RJ and circle processes, enjoyed different voices and opinions. Good video to present to the skeptics and those who are not knowledgeable about RJ. It explains the positive benefits of RJ on the individual, all involved and the community." Video 2 Preparing for the Conference To ensure a successful conference, the facilitator interviews participants about the conference, its goals and process, and tests for commitment to them. Interviews take time but are very necessary. (33 mins.) "Realistic in showing the process and the initial response to the idea of the RJ conference.It demonsstrates the amount of work required to prepare for a conference in a fairly realistic way. This part of conferencing, which is very important, is not often shown or explained in this format." Video 3 It's Not About You The facilitator guides the conversation through a conference simulation. Two teenaged females face the anger and disruption caused to all those impacted by their unacceptable behaviour. The key to success is movement in the relationship between the parties, through meaningful encounter, exchange of empathy and change in perspective. (34 mins.) "Clear, concise and well scripted. So real; triggered emotions. Facilitator made the question format seem natural and not superimposed. Someone who has never seen a conference would get a good idea of how it goes - with all kinds of unrehearsed verbiage coming out. Liked the facilitator refocusing the mother on the incident, not "good or bad behaviour." Video 4 Lalamatal: Looking After Each Other First Nations on Vancouver Island and in the city of Vancouver demonstrate Lalamatal, the traditional aboriginal way of peacemaking. Elders and other respected community members draw on traditional cultural ways to heal relationships. (28 mins.) "I like the spiritual aspect of this approach. Education and help in understanding. Acknowledgement of the impact of colonisation on individuals, families and Nations.Speaking from the heart. Addressing First Nations issues to the "white" culture/audience. We have to face up to realities." Trainer's Manual Step-by-step curriculum using all four videos, with support materials in appendices. Two formats - (a) two DVDs' or (b) two VHS tapes and a CD-ROM. To order: Email Executive Producer, Etta M. Connor (etta@connor.bc.ca) (Alternative contacts: 407-5332 Sayward Hill Crescent, Victoria, BC, Canada, V8Y 2H8; tel. 250-658-8922; fax 250-658-8110.) Cost: $50, incl. shipping, handling & GST where applicable; outside Canada, please pay in US funds; a secure Visa site is available. Release date: Jan. 31/05, following inaugural presentation at Camosun College, Victoria, BC, Jan.29. Producer, Director, Editor: Randy Waldie, Victoria, B.C.; 250-384-2318
In a few words . . .
|
