Making space for restorative justice in criminal justice and criminology curricula and courses

Abstract

Restorative justice, rooted in the practices of indigenous people across the globe, has grown exponentially in both theory and practice since its beginnings in Canada in the 1970s. Restorative justice has influenced the interactions between offenders and victims, helped community members address crime and develop self-efficacy, and changed the way some countries rebuild after a history of oppression. Despite these restorative justice influenced changes, many criminology and criminal justice programs pay scant attention to restorative justice in curricula. This paper will examine ways to include restorative justice in criminal justice and criminology curriculum and the challenges involved in the process. The paper will then examine how the Law and Justice Department at Central Washington University has incrementally added restorative justice components to its curriculum, culminating most recently with the addition of a Community and Social Justice course. The paper will conclude with several examples of classroom activities and assignments that have helped connect students with the theory and practice of restorative justice.

Restorative Pedagogy in the University Criminology Classroom: Learning about Restorative Justice with Restorative Practices and Values

“…Although the discipline of criminology is concerned with a large variety of intersecting fields and topics, and restorative justice is often viewed as an alternative approach to crime and justice because its values and aims are different to those of the dominant criminal justice system in the UK, arguably this makes its inclusion in criminology programmes important (Johnstone 2011;Pranis 2011;Smith-Cunnien and Parilla 2001;Stroup 2019). Many criminology and criminal justice scholars from the USA and New Zealand, have highlighted the relevance of restorative justice to criminology and/or criminal justice degree programmes (Stroup 2019;Deckert and Wood 2013;Carson and Bussler 2013;Britto and Reimund 2013;Smith-Cunnien and Parilla 2001). Largely, existing literature in this area concurs that restorative justice should be included in criminology and/or criminal justice degree programmes for three key reasons.…”

“…Largely, existing literature in this area concurs that restorative justice should be included in criminology and/or criminal justice degree programmes for three key reasons. Firstly, the increased use of restorative justice in criminal justice settings internationally (Smith-Cunnien and Parilla 2001;Britto and Reimund 2013;Carson and Bussler 2013;Deckert and Wood 2013;Kitchen 2013). As Smith-Cunnien and Parilla state: "The most obvious reason for including restorative justice in a curriculum is that its influence on criminal justice policy and practice has grown to a point that students need to be made knowledgeable about it".…”

“…The second common justification is the significance of restorative justice in developing critical thinking among students (Smith-Cunnien and Parilla 2001;Britto and Reimund 2013;Carson and Bussler 2013;Deckert and Wood 2013;Stroup 2019). Existing literature highlights that studying restorative justice as part of a criminology and/or criminal justice degree not only "challenges students to think critically about key assumptions that underlie the current criminal justice system" (Smith-Cunnien and Parilla 2001, p. 392).…”

“…Existing literature highlights that studying restorative justice as part of a criminology and/or criminal justice degree not only "challenges students to think critically about key assumptions that underlie the current criminal justice system" (Smith-Cunnien and Parilla 2001, p. 392). Further, by learning about the complexity of restorative justice in terms of theory, practice, and policy, and assessing related implications, students are supported to develop critical thinking skills (Smith-Cunnien and Parilla 2001;Britto and Reimund 2013;Carson and Bussler 2013;Deckert and Wood 2013;Stroup 2019). Importantly, rather than the development of critical thinking skills being viewed as a pleasing by-product of criminology students learning about restorative justice, it is understood as a fundamental justification for the topic's relevance to criminology programmes (Smith-Cunnien and Parilla 2001).…”

“…Despite the progression of restorative justice, and the expansion of higher education, Deckert and Wood highlight "surprisingly little has been written on how the subject is taught within universities" (Deckert and Wood 2013, p. 70). The relevance of restorative justice to degree level criminology curricula, as well as evaluations, approaches, and reflections on including and teaching the topic in criminology and/or criminal justice degree programmes have been the focus of previous research by academics in the United States of America (USA) (Smith-Cunnien and Parilla 2001;Britto and Reimund 2013;Carson and Bussler 2013;Kitchen 2013;Waltman-Spreha 2013;Gilbert et al 2013;Stroup 2019) and in New Zealand (Deckert and Wood 2013). However, no previous studies have explored restorative justice teaching and learning in criminology across multiple degree programmes or in a UK context.…”