I began participating fairly recently with restorative justice activities. Initially I volunteered with the Collaborative Justice Project (last year at this time). More recently (about 5 months ago) I began volunteering with the South Ottawa Community Justice Committee. My interest was spurred by the same concern many people have…that the current justice system does not seem to be doing an effective job of dealing with crime in our country…and harsher punishment as a solution no longer rings true, for some of us, as an effective solution to the needs of victims, offenders, their friends and families and the community at large.
I first became acquainted with Restorative Justice when I attended a workshop on the subject, 2 years ago, at Cityview United Church, facilitated by Jamie Scott (Collaborative Justice Project) and Jane Miller-Ashton (Corrections Services Canada), and I’ve been a "student" ever since.
The term, Restorative Justice, covers a group of approaches, or responses, to crime that provide a process for victims, offenders, family, friends and members of the community to meet and talk to each other following a crime. The meeting includes an opportunity for everyone to speak about what happened, how it impacted them and what restitution can be agreed upon. It supports a healing process missing from the traditional justice system.
While some people in our country are calling for harsher and harsher sentences for criminals, victims and other affected community members are left out of the traditional justice processes…when what they need is to participate in a process of learning, healing, and the search for fair and effective justice. It is important for all parties to gain an understanding of what happened and why. A victim usually wants to know why they were subjected to the crime. The offender needs to understand the full impact their behaviour has had on the victim and the community as a whole. The community needs to understand and accept their responsibility in addressing the social conditions that lead to crime.
Community justice "forums", as the meetings are often called, provide participants with a process to help understand why a crime happened, how it affected people, to give and receive an apology, and discuss what can to done to help everyone heal from the experience. It doesn’t mean that the crime wasn’t important. But it can help people to recover from the consequences of a crime and get on with their lives in ways that the traditional justice is ill-equipped to support. Victims may understand a little better the reason for a offender’s behaviour and to be in some way assured that despite their own suffering that this behaviour will never be repeated. Offenders are given an opportunity to understand the real impact that their behaviour has had on the life of the victim and the community, and to apologize.
Restorative justice, as we know it, has its roots in New Zealand, Australian and North American aboriginal traditions. These traditions, that were ignored for generations, developed long ago out of the very practical needs each small community had to resolve conflict within themselves for the sake of ongoing harmony and basic survival. Such traditions continued to exist in aboriginal societies while Western cultures were slowly developing a justice system based on early Christian concepts of evil and punishment (an eye for an eye), and the King’s privilege to prosecute on crown land…fines levied by the king became so lucrative, that it became law that all offences were prosecuted on behalf of citizens by the state for the benefit of the state. Which is why the crown still represents the interests of the victim, and society in general, today.
The reason why the community at large is invited to participate in these forums can be explained by the example of a stone being dropped into a pond. Think about the way a stone makes ripples when dropped into the water. As the waves move out from the centre they become smaller and smaller until they finally disappear. The bigger the stone, the bigger the waves. In a small pool, the effects of a big stone are even seen, and felt, at the edges. Think about large and small communities the same way when you hear of major or minor crime….just as water ripples, crime affects the people around an offender, including the victim, the friends and families of the victim and the offender and the community who become aware of the crime through the media and word of mouth. The closer someone is the either the victim or the offender emotionally or physically, the greater the effect on those people in the community.
When someone commits a crime our instinctive response is to punish that person. Why do we do that? In our society the answer seems obvious enough. It’s like when we were children and we were "bad". We got punished for it (no dessert for supper, being sent to our room, being "grounded" for a week). This is the way it’s "supposed" to be, we have always thought, because everyone "knows" that is the best way to ensure that the offender "never" does anything wrong again. The problem is, it often works no better than sending our kids to their rooms, they still misbehave…sometimes a lot…and the reasons for any dysfunctional behaviour are buried deep in the minds of offenders based on the same needs people all have for physical and psychological survival.
Our level of need to punish is measured by how serious the crime is. For "minor" crime, we hand out small punishments. For more serious crime, we apply greater punishments like long prison terms. How effective are serious sanctions in meeting the needs of the victim, their families, neighbours, etc? What about the family and friends of the offender? Or people in the community who now feel less safe because of a crime that has taken place near them? What about when the offender is allowed back into the community? How are they treated by that community? And how often do we ask "why: the crime happened in the first place and make efforts to influence those causes? What are the chances that circumstances will have changed very much when the offender does return to the community…with no more social support…and maybe even less than when he/she left the community? What skills, experience and positive social attitudes will they return to the community from a prison where they’ve spent time with like-minded people and poor to non-existent rehabilitation programs?
Aboriginal teachings see "wrongdoing" in terms of "broken relationships" that need to be healed. This does not suggest that some aboriginal solutions were not harsh. Sometimes the solution to a broken relationship was to turn the offender out into the wilderness (at least for a period of time). From the aboriginal communities in New Zealand and Australia we have learned about the concept of "shaming" in a way that doesn’t stigmatize the offender that focuses on behaviour not the person that offers a way to re-integrate into society…and recognizes the importance of accepting people back into the society "formally" in the same way we formally "shun" them through imprisonment.
New Zealand has developed a project called the Family Group Conference for young offenders based on their aboriginal traditions…a model replicated for working with young offenders in Canada. The RCMP imported and implemented this model in Canada. In the meantime, a handful of northern Canadian circuit court judges and prosecutors have been learning from the peacemaking traditions of North American aboriginal peoples by opening their ears and listen to the advise of the elders of small communities communities who still rely on one another for physical and social support they we all did centuries ago. In doing so, justice officers have learned the importance of "community" as an important reference point for the assessment and rehabilitation of offenders and are therefore giving more credence to the suggestions of community elders in the sentencing of offenders.
Current restorative justice processes normally include members of the families and/or friends of both victim and offender, interested members of the community, and 2 facilitators. The facilitators role is to explain the purpose, structure and process of the meeting and to ensure the rules are followed so that everyone has a fair chance to be heard. The meetings can last anywhere from 1 to 7 hours and are very tiring, not only because they are so long, but because they use up a lot of emotional energy.
These "circles" or "sanctionings" are used both for minor and major crimes. Major crimes are dealt with as part of a the traditional criminal justice process. For minor crimes, normally for first time young offenders, the matter is referred away from the court system to a diversion program supported by community volunteers.
Major crimes include assault, bank robbery and impaired driving. In the collaborative justice project, for example, meetings occur after a conviction, and before sentencing takes place. The judge in the case is advised that a restitution agreement, if there is one, has been written, though the agreement itself is not shared with the judge. Community justice forums normally deal with minor crimes include mischief, theft and vandalism committed by young offenders, normally first time offenders.
People must agree to participate in a restorative justice meeting, but after all the hard work involved in sharing facts and feelings, most people come away feeling that they can get on with their lives a little easier. This is because the process requires that everyone be given an opportunity to speak and to hear one another’s experiences, feelings and questions about the crime. Together they sort out matters of responsibility, safety, and the need for fair and meaningful consequences. In traditional justice, the victim and community are largely excluded from the process.
What happens next is a function of the offenders ability to make necessary changes in their lives, and the support family, friends and the community at large are able and willing to provide. An offenders ability to turn their lives around…to "smarten up" should not be expected to be any better than that of us "non-criminals". With no other sources of support (a very basic need we all have), where will the offender naturally gravitate? to familiar friends and behaviours to which they can relate and feel most comfortable. How easy is it for us "non-criminals" to change our behaviour even when we know it’s important for our continued good health and welfare, or someone for whom we care deeply? It’s not uncommon for meeting members to volunteer to help with an offenders efforts to change, but it’s best to be someone who has an interest in the person’s long term success. This is the biggest job, and it has to be one that the offender and his / her supporters can buy into, or the prognosis for success isn’t very good.
What about community support? How can members of the public become involved? Informing oneself about the process and talking about the issue with friends and family is useful to increase the level of understanding of the benefits of such a program. Many volunteer groups exist that focus on helping children and adults at risk (criminals don’t normally come from loving, supportive homes). Specifically consider volunteering for a community justice committee. The Dispute Resolution Centre of Ottawa Carleton recognizes need for such a committee in Kanata. A meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, December 13 @ 7:30 at the Regional Police Detachment (Hazeldean Mall). Please contact me about the process to be accepted as a volunteer.