For a young offender, meeting his victim face-to-face can be tougher than any jail sentence.
Just ask one of Canada’s best known restorative justice mediators Jean-Jacques Beauchamp.
Beauchamp has seen it time and time again.
Since 1996 Beauchamp has run a very successful youth restorative justice program out of Innisfail. This approach to justice emphasizes victim healing, accountability of offenders and the involvement of citizens in creating healthier and safer communities.
Many of the restorative justice cases involve non-violent crime, such as shoplifting, theft and mischief.
Young offenders must meet with a panel of community members including the victim who all have a say in his or her sentencing. Last year, the young offenders put in roughly 4,200 hours of community service as part of their sentencing in Innisfail.
“Does it work? You bet,” said Beauchamp, who has an extensive background in conflict resolution and developed Correction Canada’s conflict management process in the prison system. “It works so well.”
Beauchamp estimated that 95 per cent of the youth who go through the program in Innisfail stay on the right path. He said there is no lawyer or anyone else who will speak for the youth when he meets the victim. The offender has to own up and take responsibility.
“Nobody will talk for you,” said Beauchamp. “That’s pretty tough. He learns by his mistakes and how many people he hurt. In a court system you don’t do that. To me, it’s far from soft (on crime).”
Beauchamp said the impact of how much an offender has hurt a victim is a powerful tool that you do not hear in a court system. Beauchamp said they are not there to punish him or to coddle the offender but for rehabilitation.
“It’s amazing the way it works,” said Beauchamp. “The outcome is amazing. It really, really is.”
Beaucamp said often victims feel they are targeted and when they learn that is not the case they feel better and often forgive the offender.
In Innisfail the panel holds a meeting with an offender and victims on Wednesdays. The offender must call in once a week to speak with a team member. Beauchamp said the initiative works well in rural and smaller communities because everyone is invested.
He said the program can work in larger centres like Red Deer but in a different model.
“We mentor and that makes a big difference,” said Beauchamp. “After three months, we are going to have a relationship.”
Beauchamp has seen first hand the hundreds of success stories. He still receives phone calls and letters from men and women who have turned their lives.
Beauchamp was one of two keynote speakers at the Restorative Justice Conference hosted by the Red Deer Youth Justice Committee at the Kerry Wood Nature Centre on Saturday.
Corinne Anderson, community and professional development co-ordinator, said the committee has been offender focused in the past trying to get the offender on the right side of the law and get them to be responsible for what they have done.
Anderson said the committee is moving toward including the victim more in the process and into the sanctions in Red Deer. Beauchamp is helping the Red Deer committee in the process.
crhyno@www.reddeeradvocate.com