Restorative Justice: Resolving the harms of crime

Almost four years ago, I was a criminology major at the University of Manitoba, and I was picking elective courses when I came across restorative justice.

Restorative justice… What the heck is that? How can justice be “restorative”? Isn’t all justice supposed to be meted out by gavel-slamming judges who gravely intone your sentence? “I herby sentence you to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years!”

That’s like thinking all police detectives are like Olivia Benson and Ice-T on Law & Order: SVU, or that all forensics from a crime scene can be run in a day thanks to the magic of CSI.

Restorative justice is kind of magic, though, when it’s done right.

See, restorative justice (or RJ for short) is a way that victims, offenders, and the community can come together and resolve the harms of a crime. It’s victim-focused, rather than offender-focused. The idea is to bring victims, offenders, and the community together to discuss the harms of the crime, collectively decide on appropriate sanctions, and move forward in rebuilding relationships so that the offender doesn’t re-offend, the victim isn’t scared anymore, and the community is at peace. And unlike a gavel-slamming judge, there are many ways of meting out restorative justice.

For my last year of school in my communications diploma, we had to propose a year-long project. They encouraged us to pick something that we felt passionate about. I picked restorative justice.

I wrote a series of long-form newspaper articles (four in total) about restorative justice in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and the people who volunteer, work for, and use RJ programs.

My series kicked off last week with my first article that begins to explain what restorative justice is. It’s the important set-up to the other three articles that deal with programs in my hometown that are doing some incredible work with victims, offenders, and the community.

If you’d like to read it, you can read it on the Community News Commons website here.

My series will run on the Community News Commons website until the second week of December. A new article will be posted every Monday.

* * * *

My next article will be posted on the Community News Commons website on Monday, Nov.  18. The article focuses on a youth whose life has changed thanks to the Just TV program at the Broadway Neighbourhood Centre.

* * * *

Have you ever heard of restorative justice before? Leave me a comment.