The 20th annual Restorative Justice Week is just wrapping up, making this an occasion to note the concept and all the local people who have engaged to further it.
Jane Miller is one. She is a criminologist and a retired senior government manager who co-chaired a federal task-force that recommended closing the Prison for Women in Kingston, Ontario, in favour of smaller facilities. Part of that work included collaborating with First Nations using traditional circles and consensus building processes in the planning of a healing lodge for federally-sentenced Aboriginal women in Saskatchewan. She also helped to develop restorative justice and peacemaking initiatives within the Correctional Services of Canada.
“It is a more holistic approach to justice,” she says. “Historically victims have been ignored in the criminal justice system. Restorative Justice can respond more to their needs than the traditional system but it can also support healing and new ways forward for (those)involved in either a crime or conflict situation.”
Miller says that a restorative justice process addresses questions that go beyond what was done and by whom and what penalty they deserve, but focuses on who has been harmed, what do they need, and who can help.
“The idea is to seek the truth, to share stories and to problem solve together about what should be done,” she explains. “Sometimes that creates obligations on all sides, because maybe the perpetrator of the crime requires help in order to lead a safe life.”
But can this kind of justice realistically be applied to crimes where severe harm has been committed to an individual? In a very brief interview, Bowen Island RCMP Cpl. Paulo Arreaga explained that the process facilitated through the North Shore Restorative Justice Society is used to deal with many youth-oriented crimes on Bowen, as well as thefts and sometimes assaults.
“But not all crimes can be dealt with in this way,” he said.
Miller says the restorative justice process can be an effective approach for dealing with serious crimes. There is clear research evidence, she says, that shows it can help reduce fear, create opportunities for healing and promote accountability.
“I have sat in mediations in the aftermath loss of life and have seen the very real benefits. So when people ask, can this work in my church? Or with my two neighbours over the fence? I say, yes it can - it works in the most horrific situations.”
Miller calls herself a “realistic optimist,” and says that her experience has taught her that given the right conditions, human beings are capable of working through most things. She adds that living on Bowen adds to her optimism, because the conditions here favour the application of restorative justice principles.
“It’s not that we have less conflict here than anywhere else,” she says. “It’s the fact that there are so many natural opportunities for connecting with members of our community, whether it’s at the General Store, on the ferry or on the school playground. As we engage we come to understand each other more deeply, and to genuinely care. The other thing is that people often think of story-telling when they talk about restorative justice, but times of silence are an important component too - listening well is something we can offer one another here on Bowen.”
Simon Fraser University’s Centre for Restorative Justice is where Miller met Brenda Morrison, who also lives on Bowen and agrees, this is a place where restorative justice should thrive.
“We’re a small and caring community, and we have such a high voter turnout and to me that shows that we all care, and I think we’re here because we’re all looking for something,” says Morrison. “That said, sometimes we move into processes that bring out our adversarial nature.”
She says that in the context of youth-crime, the results are not always as hoped for by the parties involved.
“When we look at the empirical evidence, adults who voluntarily take part in a restorative justice process are much less likely to re-offend,” says Morrison. “For juveniles, the results are mixed. It may be because adolescents are in a particular developmental stage, their brains are not fully developed, and peer influence is so significant. In any case we do expect more variance in outcomes when we work with youth. Restorative justice is not a panacea and it does not always deliver the kind of justice people hope for. We need to be creative in finding ways to support young people in conflict with their peers, their community and the law.”
Morrison came to restorative justice through her research in social-psychology, which looked at how our peer-groups influence behaviour and how social co-operation works.
“Restorative justice harnesses the power of the group to influence behaviour,” says Morrison. “Restorative Justice is community born and led. It represents a shift from an individualistic focus of human nature to a relational focus of human nature, and then how to create systems that reflect this aspect of who we are to create belonging and connection in the context of justice.”
She adds that it is not a replacement to our current system of justice, but an addition to it.
“It complements a transactional focus of justice, wherein third parties (lawyers, judges, police) enact justice for us with a relational focus on justice wherein the parties affected can move forward through processes designed to enact responsibility, resilience and hope.”
In addition to Morrison’s work teaching at Simon Fraser, she has also done significant work in researching bullying, and taught restorative justice principles in schools.
“Young people need opportunities to learn and grow together. Through restorative justice, conflict provides an opportunity to learn and grow together and the research shows that a greater sense of belonging is fostered through it. Kids who feel they belong are less likely to hurt themselves and each other,” she says.
As part of this work, Morrison helped former BICS principle, Jennifer Pardee, to bring restorative justice principles into the school’s social and emotional learning framework. That this is thriving in our local school is something that both Morrison and Miller mention as point of local pride.
There are other things to be proud of here, too - like the fact that it was another Bowen Islander, Geoffrey Cowper, who was Queen’s Council on a provincial review of criminal justice, and recommended that the province increase its capacity to deliver restorative justice and diversify the types of offenses it is used to deal with. Or Jeremy Church, who has brought restorative justice principles into his school, Mountainside Secondary School in North Vancouver, as well as numerous other individuals who have taken it upon themselves to go through the restorative justice training offered by the North Shore Restorative Justice Society.
Bowen Island, it seems, has a lot to celebrate during Restorative Justice Week.
