Exploring Justice in Jackson County
Michael Niemann, 19.06.2008 20:28
Professor Howard Zehr and Aaron Lyons outline the principles of Restorative Justice to well attended conference in Medford.
Justice in Jackson County
On Thursday, June 19, over one hundred individuals attended a workshop on Restorative Justice at the Medford Public Library. Coming from city, county and state agencies and non-profits from as far as Oakland, CA, they listened attentively as Howard Zehr of Eastern Mennonite University and his colleague Aaron Lyons presented intriguing insights into how we might change the way the justice system works in Jackson County. Zehr is credited by many as having started the movement for restorative justice with his 1990 book Changing Lenses, A New Focus for Crime and Justice.
Here is a bit of background: The U.S. has the highest incarceration rate in the world with over 2 million individuals behind bars and even more under some sort of administrative supervision. Many states pay more for prisons than for higher education. Clearly, our current system of locking people up does not work.
Restorative justice offers a different way to deal with crime. At its core is concern for the needs of the victim who has been harmed by an offense. When a person harms another person, that harm creates needs and obligations. Victims have experienced trauma and need to transcend that in order to get on with their lives. What they need from the justice system is safety (knowing that the crime will not happen again), answers (why me? what happened? who was involved?), truth-telling (this is what it's like for me!) empowerment, vindication and validation. At the same time, there is the obligation of the offender to make restitution of some sort. As odd as it seems, the current system is more concerned with administering justice as expressed by abstract laws than deal with the needs of victims. The adversarial process of pre-trial preparations and trials leave victims out in the cold and the penalty usually does not involve restitution to the victim.
Restorative justice focuses on repairing that harm caused by the offense. There are a number of ways to do this. One involves bringing the offender and the victim together so that the victim can express her/his needs and work out a contract for restitution. Another method involves the circle process where a facilitator brings together the victim and her/his family, the offender and her/his families and other concerned members of the community to work out a way of restitution and healing both for the victims and the community.
In the process, the offender often experiences a transformation as well. Howard Zehr recounted that initially many offenders would have preferred jail to meeting with the victims. Rather than subjecting her/him to stigmatizing shame (you are a bad person) that has no end, restorative justice focuses on reintegrative shame that separates the act from the person, shames the offender among people who matter to her/him and offers opportunities for restitution that terminate the shame and reintegrate the the offender into the community again.
This may sound too wishy-washy to the law and order types, but don't stop reading yet. Research shows that restorative justice has reduced repeat offenses, especially for serious crimes and is very effective for young offenders. It also reduces post-traumatic stress among victims, reduces the cost of the justice system and is more efficient in the long run.
Aaron Lyons explained the experience of New Zealand, where in the 1980s, after experiencing rising crime and incarceration among young people particularly among Maori youth, a new law was passed in 1989 that implemented Family Group Conferences as the key aspect of the juvenile justice system. After the victim get her/his say, the offender huddles with her/his family in a separate room to discuss the matter. Afterwards, the group meets again in the circle and by consensus decides on the restitution that the offender is to offer the victim. The system has been very successful, the prison population has decreased and the crime rate among young people has dropped as well. Most importantly, communities have a role in solving their problems and the police is much more connected with the communities rather than acting against them.
Overall, the conference was very successful and the attendees pledged strengthen already existing initiatives in Jackson County and strive towards integrating these into a broader system of restorative justice.
e-mail:: michael@michael-niemann.com
Homepage:: http://michael-niemann.com
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