Video Review: Restorative Justice: For Victims, Communities and Offenders

St. Paul, MN: Center for Restorative Justice and Peacemaking. 25 minutes.

Highlighting commentary from experts such as Howard Zehr, Mark Umbreit and Kay Pranis, this 25 minute documentary introduces viewers to the ideas underlying the restorative justice paradigm. Using examples of victim offender meetings and programmes offering restorative outcomes, the video expresses the breadth of interest in restorative justice found in the criminal justice system.

The documentary--adapted from a longer documentary prepared by the Presbyterian Church USA-- starts with the narrator describing the criminal justice system using the three questions set out by Howard Zehr. The commentary goes on to discuss the failings of the system, and discusses how groups such as faith communities began to identify the problems and look for answers. The restorative justice paradigm developed as a response to the fact that incarceration was not the answer. 

Experts such as Zehr and Umbreit discuss the values of restorative justice. They focus on ideas of including the victim in the response to crime; where as in the criminal justice system the victim is often relegated the role of witness for the State instead of an interested party in the proceedings. Victim offender meetings and community service are held up as ways for responding to crime that help both victims and offenders.

To demonstrate the power of victim offender meetings, clips from meetings between two young men guilty of starting a fire that damaged a senior centre and residents of the centre are used.  Some of the victims express their anger at the act, pain at the loss, and fear that haunts their lives to the young men. The young offenders, with their faces blurred so that they can not be identify, relate their own feelings to the victims in the meeting, expressing how difficult it was to face the group and hear the impact of their behaviour, and describe the guilt and deep sorrow that they felt as a result of their behaviour.

As restorative justice has roots in indigenous traditions, the documentary includes a segment on the Chippewa talking circles. The circles were developed out of concern for youth offending. The idea was to look at old ways of resolving problems in the community. The talking circles brought together individuals from the community to talk about the issues around offender. The processes allow each person in the group to speak with only one person at a time speaking. The idea was to talk things out so that there were no winners or losers.

From the description of victim offending meetings, the video turns to programmes aimed at helping offenders stay in the community. The idea is that incarceration is expensive and very seldom works; therefore, it should be used only in serious cases. The film highlights community based programmes that allow offenders to build bonds with members of the community. This process of building connections between offenders and their communities eases the reintegration of the offender in to the community. One programme highlighted showed ex-offenders performing services for a senior community. These services entailed showing the responsibility to assist the seniors and disabled people living in the community with chores around home, shopping, paying bills and other services. Both the ex-offenders and seniors expressed the strength of the programme in building trust and responsibility.

Through its description of the restorative justice paradigm and depiction of programmes that are identified with the concept, Restorative Justice: For Victims, Communities and Offenders offers an excellent resource for introducing audiences to restorative justice. It is available for purchase ($20 US) from the Center for Restorative Justice & Peacemaking, University of Minnesota, 105 Peters Hall, 1404 Gortner Ave., St. Paul, MN. 55108-6160. Phone: 1-612-624-4923. Fax: 1-612-625-8224, rjp@che.umn.edu.

Lynette Parker
November 2005