RESTORATIVE J USTICE Option For Victims Of Youth Crime

8/3/2019 RESTORATIVE J USTICE Option For Victims Of Youth Crime

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/restorative-j-ustice-option-for-victims-of-youth-crime 1/16

A Different

Option ForVictims Of

Youth Crime

RESTORATIVE JUSTICE



Restorative justice offers an alternativeto the traditional criminal justicesystem. It aims to repair the

community relationships that aredamaged when a crime is committed.

Restorative justice can be used withpeople of all ages who are in conflict

with the law. It can be adapted for usein many circumstances and at differentstages of the criminal justice process.This booklet, however, deals mainlywith restorative justice as an alternative

to the court process for young people introuble with the law.

What is restorative justice?



1

Instead of simply punishing and labellingyoung people who have committedcrimes, restorative justice gives them theopportunity to:

take responsibility for their

behaviour,

understand the full impact of theiractions on others, and

repair the harm done to their victims.

Restorative justice is voluntary.

Nobody has to take part unless they

want to. However, for it to happen theyoung person and the victim (or someone

personally representing the victim) must

both be willing to participate.

In some circumstances, restorative justice can be used instead of charginga young person with a crime and

sending them to court. It is used thisway only when a young person admitsthey committed an offence. There isthen no need for a trial. Instead of

being dealt with by the authorities, the

crime can be handled in the communitywhere it took place, by the communitymembers most affected by it. This isthe use that is the focus of this booklet.

Restorative justice can also be used inother ways. It can be used as part of asentence when an accused pleads guiltyor is found guilty by the court. Or itcan be used at the end of a sentence in

•

•

•



custody, before a young person returns

to the community. When used in thisway, it can help a victim and acommunity prepare for a young person’srelease back into the community. It canalso prepare a young person to live

again in the community and help themface the people they harmed.

2

If restorative justice is not part of

the traditional justice system, who runs it?

Restorative justice is a community-basedprogram. It is started by thecommunity, and run by the community.It exists in communities where localindividuals and groups have gottentogether to organize it.

Volunteers from the local communityform a committee to set it up and run it.This committee decides how the processwill work.

Although all restorative justice projectsare basically the same, there are manyvariations. Each community chooses thevariation that works best for it.

What cases go torestorative justice?

Restorative justice programs work inco-operation with the justice system.The local Crown attorney, police, andother youth justice system professionals



3

help the restorative justice committee

decide what kinds of cases will qualify.One community may accept cases ofminor theft, mischief, and causing adisturbance, but not assaults. Anothercommunity may accept assaults, but no

offences involving drugs.

Even if the kind of offence is eligible, anindividual case will be chosen forrestorative justice only if the police or

Crown attorney think it is suitable.When deciding, some of the things theywill consider are:

the young person’s history,

the seriousness of the crime,

the circumstances,

the attitudes of the victim and the

young person, andthe willingness of both the youngperson and the victim to participate.

For example, although a community

might consider restorative justicesuitable for youthful break and entryoffences, a young person who breaksinto a vacant cottage may not be

accepted for restorative justice if theyouth has a long history of criminal behaviour or they used youngerchildren to help commit the crime.

Only young people who admit they

committed an offence can be sent to

restorative justice.

•

•

•

•

•



4

How does restorative justice work?

Even if a case is suitable, a victim might

not want the crime against them dealtwith by restorative justice. Not everyvictim of every crime will want toparticipate or to have somebody elserepresent them in the restorative justice

process. A victim always has the rightto say they want their case handled bythe traditional justice process.

Restorative justice can work in differentways. In one frequently used model,

volunteers from the community aretrained as facilitators. When a case issent to restorative justice, a facilitatororganizes a meeting of the people whohave been most affected by the crime.

They are brought together in acomfortable setting to talk about whathappened. They each talk about theirown experience of the crime. Then

they all decide together what the youngperson will do to repair the harm.

Participants include the victim, theyoung person, their families andsupporters, and any other peopledirectly affected by the offence. Somerestorative justice programs ask thearresting police officer to participate.

Members of the volunteer committeemight also be included in the meetingto represent the affected community.



5

At the meeting the participants speak for

themselves, not through lawyers andwitnesses. That way nothing gets in theway of the story each person has to tell.Restorative justice emphasizes the harmthat was done to real people and to the

community, not the law that was broken.

The meeting can be very emotional.Participants may feel nervous andvulnerable. However, the facilitator isthere to make sure that:

everyone feels safe,

everyone is listened to respectfully,

participants have enoughopportunity to express themselves,and

the meeting stays focused.

Before the meeting, victims are oftenunwilling to participate. Some areafraid of losing control or being tooemotional. Some don’t want to appearweak in front of the person who hurtthem. Those who do decide toparticipate, however, usually find thatthe meetings are harder for the young

people than for their victims. Beingforced to face the full impact of theircriminal actions is usually upsetting foryoung people. Facing their victims andthe community they have harmed is

often more frightening than facing a judge and the possibility of time incustody.

•

•

•

•



6

What do the participants do?

1 Discuss the offence and its impact

One of the purposes of the meeting isto allow the victim to speak directly tothe young person who committed thecrime against them. A victim often feels

better when they can tell the personwho hurt them how the crime has upset

their life. Hearing what their victim hasto say can also help the young personunderstand the emotional impact ofwhat they have done.

A victim is encouraged to bring friends

and family to the meeting. These

supporters can give the victim moral

support when they face the person

responsible for the crime.

Friends and family are also often ableto describe effects on the victim that

the victim has been unaware of orunable to talk about. This, too, canhelp the young person understand thefull impact of their offence.

The young person’s family alsoparticipates and can help the otherparticipants know the young person

better. By describing their feelings

about the crime, the young person’sfamily can also help the young personunderstand how their behaviour hashurt the people closest to them.



7

2 Ask and answer questions about the offence

3 Decide how to repair the harm

A victim often feels the need to know:

why they were chosen,

whether they did anything toencourage or provoke the offence,and

if they could have done anythingto prevent the offence.

When the participants have fullyexplored the offence and how it hasaffected all of them, they decidetogether what the young person willdo to repair the harm that has beendone. When they agree on whatshould be done, their agreement isput into writing and signed by all the

participants.

In signing the agreement, the youngperson promises to perform whatevertasks the group has agreed to. The

group assigns someone to make surethe young person completes the tasks.

They can ask these questions at their

meeting. Getting answers directlyfrom the young person can ease avictim’s mind.

•

•

•



8

One of the goals of restorative justice isto have a young person who committed

a crime sincerely apologize to theirvictim. A personal apology is anecessary step in taking responsibilityfor their actions. An apology also helpsto repair the young person’s relationship

with their victim and the community.

The participants decide together whatelse the young person should do. Theyoung person may agree to:

What is the young

person asked to do?

return or pay for stolen property,

repair or pay for damaged property,

do services for their victim,

do volunteer work in the community,

donate to charity,

attend skills workshops,

agree not to associate with certainpeople,

obey a curfew,

perform any other activity that thegroup thinks is fair.

The group decides the outcome, butthe facilitator makes sure that it is fair

and appropriate for the offence.

Whenever possible, the young personis required to do something clearlyrelated to the offence they committed.Most young people can then

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•





10

What does restorative justiceoffer victims of youth crime?

Victims get the chance to ask questionsand tell the young person who

committed the crime against them howthat crime has affected their lives.They can express their feelings ofanger, fear, hurt, and confusiondirectly to the person who hurt them.This can help them regain a feeling ofself-respect and control.

Victims have the chance to see the

young person who committed thecrime against them as a real personwith strengths and weaknesses insteadof a faceless monster. They see theyoung person with their family and

friends. Victims can judge forthemselves whether the young personreally regrets what they did. Meetingthe young person often helps victimsfeel safe again.

Victims tend to get lost in thetraditional justice process. The guilt orinnocence of the accused is the focus ofthat process and it is the court thatmakes the decisions. In contrast,restorative justice recognizes that thevictims are the ones who are mostharmed by crime. Restorative justice

gives them a meaningful role in theprocess and a voice in what happens tothe young person.



11

One of the goals of restorative justice is

to have young people who havecommitted a crime repair the harm

done to their victims. Victims help

decide how this will be done.

Why is the processcalled restorative?

Restorative justice can begin to repairthe relationships between the youngperson who committed the crime andthe people who were harmed by it.

When the meeting and assignments areover, the victim and the young personmay choose not to have a personalrelationship. But any contact they do

have will be eased by the understandingthey developed in the restorative justiceprocess.

The relationship between the young

person and the community is alsoharmed by the young person’s

behaviour. Perhaps the young personnever felt part of, or accepted by, thecommunity. In restorative justice, the

community has a chance to show theyoung person that they belong. In turn,the young person can start to behave asa responsible community member.

Restorative justice usually requires theyoung person to repair the specificharm they have done. This helps thevictim but it also helps the young



person see that making a mistake does

not make them a bad person. Theycan make up for the mistake and thenmove on. The process can restore orstart to build positive feelings ofconfidence and self-esteem in the

participants. The young person is notisolated from the community or givena criminal record. The young personhas a chance to fix their mistakes anddevelop new relationships with thecommunity.

12

How can I find it?

Restorative justice functions in differentways and has many names. The 3 mainmodels are:

1 The Conferencing Model

group conferencing,

family conferencing,

real justice conferencing,

restorative justice conferencing,

youth justice committee, or

youth justice circle.

Some names you might see under thismodel are:



13

2 The Sentencing Circle Model

sentencing circle,

healing circle, or

community justice circle.

3 The Mediation Model

victim-offender reconciliation, or

victim-offender mediation.

You can find out from the VictimAssistance Program or Victim WitnessAssistance Program in your areawhether there is a restorative justiceproject in your community. You can

also ask your local police, Crown’s office,or youth court.

If there is a project in your area and youare a victim of a youth crime, you can

let the police or the Crown attorneyknow that you might be interested inhaving your case decided in this way ifthe circumstances are suitable.

Some of the names this model iscalled are:

This is also called:



This pamphlet is part of a seriesproduced by Community LegalEducation Ontario (CLEO). CLEO haspublications on other areas of law as

well. Most are free. For an order formcall 416-408-4420 or visit our Web site at<www.cleo.on.ca>.

CLEO gratefully acknowledges theDepartment of Justice Canada for itsfinancial interest in this project.

March 2002

Documents

RESTORATIVE J USTICE Option For Victims Of Youth Crime