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The course will employ a variety of instructional methods to accomplish its objectives, including some of the following: lectures, guest speakers, group work and a high degree of class participation. |
- The Philosophical Shift to Restorative Justice
- The values and philosophy and retributive justice.
- Shifting the view from crime against “the state.â€
- Viewing crime as a violation of people and interpersonal relationships.
- Broadening the view of victim and including all those affected.
- Healing and putting right the wrongs.
- Focusing on restoring, balancing and reintegrating, not punishing, wounding, separating.
- Basic Principles of Restorative Justice
- Identifying and defining the stakeholders - offender, victim, and community.
- Maximizing input and opportunity for communication.
- Defining roles and responsibilities of stakeholders.
- Obliging the offender.
- Empowering the victim.
- Involving the community.
- The History of Restorative Justice
- Religious roots of restorative justice.
- First nations and restorative justice.
- International aboriginal initiatives.
- Entering the mainstream 1970s to the explosion of programs in the 1990s.
- Restorative Justice Strategies
- International and Canadian examples of restorative justice programs.
- Victim offender mediation.
- Family group conferencing.
- Peacemaking circles.
- Circle sentencing.
- Community courts.
- Government Involvement
- Current and proposed government programs and initiatives.
- Legislative and policy guidelines for restorative justice at both provincial and federal levels.
- Positioning the police.
- Assessing and Evaluating the Effectiveness of Restorative Justice Programs
- Research and evaluating restorative justice programs.
- Guarding against co-opting restorative justice for punitive ends, undue offender orientation, expansion of social control or budget cut backs.
At the conclusion of the course the successful student will be able to:
- Compare and contrast retributive and restorative justice, describing the faith and value basis of each paradigm.
- Describe the history of the restorative justice movement.
- Identify the central principles of restorative justice.
- Explain the roles of the victim, the offender and the community in restorative justice.
- Explain the role of the police and government in restorative justice.
- Describe victim offender mediation processes.
- Describe the victim offender reconciliation process.
- Describe circle sentencing.
- Describe family group conferencing.
- Describe peacemaking circles.
- Identify current initiatives in restorative justice both in Canada and elsewhere.
- Describe the role of religion in restorative justice.
- Discuss the process and tools for assessing and evaluating restorative justice programs.
- Recognize the ways in which restorative justice is co-opted for social control, for punitive ends and for budget constraint.
- Recognize the depth of restorative justice as a paradigm shift rather than a program through full participation in the course activities.
- Improve communication skills through participation in circles and class/group exercises.
The evaluation will be based on the course objectives and in accordance with °µÍø51 policy. The instructor will provide specific evaluation requirements to the student at the beginning of the semester. Students may be required to complete in-class examinations, student presentations, essays, term papers, journal entries and comprehensive final examinations. Part of each class will be conducted in a workshop or experiential learning format requiring participation. An example of one possible evaluation scheme would be:
| Participation and attendance | 15% |
| Midterm #1 | 25% |
| Midterm #2 | 25% |
| Term paper and presentation | 25% |
| Final Quiz | 10% |
| Total | 100% |
Textbooks and Materials to be Purchased by Students:
Texts will be updated periodically. Typical examples are:
Zehr, Howard, The Little Book of Restorative Justice, Intercourse, Pennsylvania: Good Books, 2002.
Healing River: Tributary Streams Edition. Multimedia DVD/CD Package, 2007.
Karen Strong and Daniel Van Ness, Restoring Justice (4th edition), New Providence, LexisNexis, 2010.