Starting this fall, Governors State University will launch
their brand new Restorative Justice Certificate program. Dr. James “Chip” Coldren, Criminal Justice
Program Coordinator, authored the certificate with the help of students within
the current Criminal Justice Program.
The goal of the program is to help students become more effective
leaders and problem solvers in their community, workplace, and in their home by
utilizing Restorative Justice concepts and practices
Restorative justice is defined as an approach to justice
that focuses on the needs of the victims and the offenders, as well as the
involved community, instead of just punishing the offender. Victims take an
active role in the process, while offenders are encouraged to take
responsibility for their actions in order to repair the harm they've done. The
offender does this by apologizing, returning stolen money, or doing community
service. It is also viewed as a prevention method and an alternative for young
offenders who are starting to make their way through the juvenile justice
system. Dr. Coldren says it is “having people atone for the harms that they
have done to people and developing competencies in people so that they don’t
re-offend and commit those same harms again.”
He also says that there are natural links between some aspects of
restorative justice and the corrections system.
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| Shaniqua Jones |
Shaniqua Jones, who recently received her M.A in Criminal
Justice with a focus in Restorative Justice, said that integrating restorative
justice philosophies into school systems would help provide an alternative to
the zero-tolerance policy. Take a conflict between two students or two parties,
for example. Instead of letting them point the finger at each other, they meet individually
and collectively with a facilitator and their parents to discuss who was harmed,
how they were harmed, and what the consequences should be. Using this method,
both of the parties involved have a voice.
In order to earn the Restorative Justice Certificate, students
must take five courses: two theoretical overview classes, two practical
workshops, and a fifth class that will be an evaluation course. The first two
classes are called Restorative Justice and Victims and the Justice
System. Restorative Justice will provide students with an overview of practices
and the development of Restorative Justice, while Victims and the
Justice System will inform students of the issues that victims face in the
American justice system.
The two workshop courses are called Mediation and Conflict
Resolution and Peacekeeping Circles. Workshop classes are typically more
hands-on, so students who want to become practitioners of restorative justice
will gain valuable first-hand experience. Mediation is when you have a
discussion between two disputing parties with a third party acting as the
mediator to help them reach an agreement. Conflict Resolution is the steps that
are taken to eliminate the conflict. A peacekeeping circle is when two or more
people sit in a circle to have important discussions, share stories, and
resolve conflicts. It is used in many places like schools, court systems,
shelters, and faith groups. Students will not only practice these skills in
class, but will also be able to utilize them effectively in the field.
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| Peacekeeping Circle |
The last course is called How to Evaluate and Assess
Restorative Justice Programs. There are different approaches to evaluating a justice
program; one is called an outcome evaluation. Using this method, students would
determine whether or not a restorative justice program is doing what it is
supposed to do and if it is having a positive impact. For example, if a
restorative justice program were implemented at a high school, students would
look at whether or not there been fewer conflicts between students over
time. They would then decide if that
program is working, if it needs revising, or if it should just be discarded if
it isn’t working.
With a certificate in restorative justice, students will
become more competitive in any field they go in because it teaches specific
mediation and problem-solving skills. Restorative justice isn’t just useful in
the workplace; it can also make a big difference at home. “When I learned about
restorative justice,” said Dr. Coldren. “I became a different parent, and I
became a better parent…and I think that happens in a lot of cases.” For Dr.
Coldren, involvement in restorative justice has been a life-changing
experience. “I don’t know how to explain it…I’m just a really, really happy
person,” he said. “Part of that has been this involvement with restorative justice.
It makes me feel connected to the world.”
According to an article from The
Huffington Post, restorative justice practices are “on the rise” in the U.S.
and are more efficient than the current system because a) it saves time, b) it
saves judicial processing money, and c) it is fair to all the parties involved
(the victim, the offender and the community). Despite the reasons why many
people believe that Restorative Justice is a better way to handle conflicts,
there are still some who prefer the traditional ‘do the crime, do the time’
system.
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| Dr. James "Chip" Coldren |
Dr. Coldren has a Ph.D in Sociology from the University of
Chicago, but says that most of his academic and professional career has had
something to do with restorative justice and the Criminal Juvenile Justice
system in some way. After graduating, he spent eight years as a visiting
professor and director for the Center for Research in Law and Justice at the
University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). There he worked on training community
members and the community police on how to work together to solve
problems. After UIC, he spent five years
running a non-profit Corrections Agency as a prisoner’s advocate where he
monitored the conditions of confinement in prisons, jails, and juvenile
detention centers.
While doing advocacy work at the John Howard Association,
there was a movement in Illinois that was partly funded by the McArthur
foundation to implement reform in the juvenile justice system. His involvement
helped introduce him to restorative justice, but his very first exposure was a
monograph written by Carolyn Nichol on how restorative justice fits with community
policing and restorative justice practices that were implemented in Great
Britain. “That kind of opened my eyes to what restorative justice was and how
it also fits so neatly with community policing.” He said.
During his last year at the advocacy group, GSU was having
an external assessment done of its criminal justice program by a nationally
known leading expert in restorative justice. He said that the program needed to
be modernized and strongly recommended adding restorative justice. At the time,
GSU needed a new program coordinator and brought in Dr. Coldren after he was
encouraged to apply by a colleague. Once he was hired, he was told by his dean
to integrate restorative justice, so for the next ten years he did just that
and the response from students has been strong. “As I was doing that,” he said.
“I started to think about the community and the culture here at Governors
State…and maybe we should be thinking [as a community] of ways to integrate
restorative justice and…conflict resolution on campus.” This is where student
leaders like Shaniqua Jones and Nikki Holloway came in. If fact, Jones, who is
on the student senate, is currently working with the new dean of students to
integrate restorative justice into the student conduct code.
If restorative justice sounds interesting to you, then I
encourage you to consider earning a certificate in it. Be sure to come back
next week for the next article in the New Programs series.
Until next time Tweaders…TWAG ON!
For more information,
contact:
(Check out her blogs: http://www.shanjonesblog.wordpress.com and http://www.blogtalkradio.com/shanjones)
Grateful!
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