Produced by the Mennonite Central Committee. Akron, PA. 22 Minutes.

Produced in 1994 by the Mennonite Central Committee, Restorative Justice: Making Things Right provides a still-useful introduction to the concepts of restorative justice. Through a discussion of retribution and how this underpins the current justice system, Commentators such as Howard Zehr, Dave Worth and Ron Claassen describe how restorative justice differs fundamentally from retribution because of its roots in the idea of relationship instead of rule breaking.

The video opens with Dave Worth comparing the justice system to the Biblical parable of the fig tree that was not producing fruit. According to Worth, the criminal justice system is a justice tree that is not producing justice fruit: victims and communities are not satisfied, offenders reoffend and the system continues to grow. The answer does not lie in pruning the branches, but in working at the roots and changing the focus from punishment to repairing harm and restoring relationships.

Representatives from the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections discuss the corrections reality in 1994 which included rising budget costs and incarceration rates that outstripped the rise in crime rates. They argue that a focus on punishment and incarceration is not sustainable and alternatives are necessary. Two judges discuss the reality of life in a courtroom. Most offenders do not leave with a feeling of remorse or empathy but rather with guilt, anger and shame. Furthermore, the system does not allow time to humanize the process, to listen to a victim describe the toll the crime has exacted.

Howard Zehr describes justice as having both a public and a private dimension. For too long the private dimension, the relationships harmed or created by the crime, have been ignored. The needs of individuals harmed by crime have to be taken into consideration.

From this discussion of restorative justice principles, Claassen describes the work of the Victim Offender Reconciliation Program (VORP) as assisting churches in a ministry of reconciliation between victims and offenders. The purpose of VORP is to facilitate safe face-to-face meetings in which victims receive the answers they need and offenders take responsibility for repairing the harm.

In illustrating the healing potential of a restorative encounter, Dave Gustafson describes the case of a rape victim whose offender was found not guilty. The woman was shattered as the offender walked away from the courtroom. She spent 18 years living with the aftermath of the rape and the equally abusive treatment she received from the criminal justice system. The offender was later arrested and incarcerated for another offense. While serving his sentence, the man began to feel remorse for the harm she had suffered not only during the rape but in the aftermath as well. The victim in this case the describes the healing effect of writing a letter to the offender explaining how she felt, and the vindication that resulted from his confession and sorrow.

Restorative Justice: Making Things Right was produced for use with high school seniors and adults. It is available from the Mennonite Central Committee for $19.99. The video is also available in Spanish.

December 2006