Community Voice Reflection

I had the opportunity to participate in my second conference with SLRJP this April as a community voice volunteer. One of the things that make restorative conferences so valuable is that those that were impacted by the crime (both directly and indirectly) have an opportunity to speak. This includes members of the community.

As a representative of the community it is my task during the conference to show young people the bigger picture, so to speak. To help them understand that their actions did not just impact themselves or their family, but has an effect on the community at large, whether I know the youth or not. If the crime is shoplifting, community members can speak to the added costs that are placed on paying customers. If it's graffiti or property destruction, they can discuss the anxiety they have about the security of their own property.

One thing that I have been struck by in both conferences that I have participated in is the limited voice that youth bring to the process. Not because they aren't given the opportunity, but because they don't seem to know what to say. Often times, the words heard most often are "I don't know." This experience is not new to me. In my professional work with youth, I often get the same response (or lack of response) when asking them about what they think or want or feel. Restorative conferences are one of the few responses to youth (mis)behavior that are rooted in hearing from the young people themselves. I have often heard adults ask youth "What were you thinking?!", but I've rarely seen them wait to hear the answer.

I am currently reading the book Peacemaking Circles & Urban Youth: Bringing Justice Home by Carolyn Boyes-Watson. There is a quote from a staff member at an organization named Roca that really resonated with me about the lack of voices among the young people I have worked with in all different capacities. She stated:

Young people got so much to say, but they've been neglected for so many years-- just left out on the street. They want to talk to people, and they want to share this stuff and their pain, and yet they don't know how to do it in a good way.

This statement embodies why I have become so passionate about restorative justice. Whether in the justice system or school, our society is designed to identify the wrong-doer and punish them. In that process, neither the causer of harm, nor those that were harmed are given much opportunity to give voice to the wrongs that have happened and the lessons learned. With restorative conferencing, all parties are brought together to talk about what happened. Both sides must sit in a circle and may actually begin to "see" each other for the first time. Offenders will find out how deeply their actions impacted the victims and they, in turn, will no longer just see the crime that was committed but the person that made a poor choice.

Though not always the case, restorative conferences offer all parties involved an opportunity for healing, redemption and possibly closure. Unfortunately, our current standard of justice leaves many of those things behind.