Helping Offenders Take Responsibility

When a speeding driver hit an elderly woman on a crosswalk in Abbotsford, B.C., earlier this year, it was an accident that could have destroyed two lives. Instead, it became an opportunity to rethink justice. The elderly woman survived, though she was badly injured. And the accident took its toll: once busy, energetic and active in the community, she now found herself unsteady on her feet, afraid of traffic and unable to do her volunteer work.

The young man was stricken with grief, and if found guilty, was facing a possible term in prison, where chances were high he would be exposed to violence and abuse. Many people would say that someone guilty of such a crime would deserve to be punished. But the victim in this case believed otherwise.

In fact, she accepted the young man's apology and agreed to an arrangement whereby he will try to make amends by doing chores for her, taking on the volunteer work that she can no longer carry out in the community, and helping her get around as she recovers physically from her injuries and mentally from her fear of crossing the road.

This is just one example of restorative justice, a new way of thinking about crime and conflict that challenges us to look at ourselves collectively as a society, how we respond to crime and how we restore the balance after a crime has been committed.

In our current system, committing a crime means you are often blamed, stigmatized and punished. This focus on punishment as the only way of correcting behavior does nothing to encourage offenders to be accountable for their actions.

Crime hurts victims, communities and offenders and creates an obligation to make amends. Restorative justice provides the offender with an opportunity to make amends through a face-to-face meeting with the victim and community members. These meetings allow the offender to take responsibility for his or her actions in a safe environment; be an active participant in determining how to repair the harm done; hear firsthand how his/her behavior has affected people; and ask for help with problems that may have contributed to the wrongdoing.

The objective of these meetings is to help all parties develop a better understanding of the crime, of each other and of the steps needed to make amends. The meetings conclude with an agreement outlining how the offender will repair the harm caused by the offence.

Restorative justice helps offenders understand that accountability means accepting responsibility and acting to repair the harm done.