Course

Restorative Justice

Faculty
Humanities & Social Sciences
Department
Criminology
Course Code
CRIM 3376
Credits
3.00
Semester Length
15
Max Class Size
35
Method(s) Of Instruction
Lecture
Typically Offered
To be determined

Overview

Course Description
This course provides an exploration of restorative justice. The history, philosophy and strategies of restorative justice are critically examined. Prevailing assumptions about crime and justice are challenged. Retributive and restorative approaches are compared and contrasted. Particular attention is paid to the importance of values and relationships in restorative justice, and concepts such as crime, punishment and justice are juxtaposed to ideas of harms and healing. The importance of the roles of victims, offenders, community, police, corrections, and government are examined. Community development and social justice are considered. Canadian and international examples and expressions of restorative justice programs are discussed. Consideration is given to evaluation and assessment of restorative justice initiatives, as well as attempts to co-opt restorative justice for purposes inconsistent with the philosophy.
Course Content
  1. The Philosophical Shift to Restorative Justice
    • The values and philosophy and retributive justice
    • Shifting the view from crime against the State
    • Viewing crime as a violation of people and relationships
    • Broadening the view of victim and including all those affected
    • Healing and putting right the wrongs
    • Focusing on restoring, healing, and reintegrating, not punishing and separating
  2. Principles of Restorative Justice
    • Identifying and defining the stakeholders (i.e. offender, victim, and community)
    • Maximizing input and opportunity for communication
    • Defining roles and responsibilities of stakeholders
    • Obliging the offender
    • Empowering the victim
    • Involving the community
  3. The History of Restorative Justice
    • Religious roots
    • Contributions of Indigenous peoples
    • International & political contributions
    • Entering the mainstream 1970s, the explosion of programs in the 1990s, and current initiatives
  4. Restorative Justice Strategies
    • International and Canadian examples of restorative justice initiatives
    • Use in the CJS (e.g. victim offender mediation, family group conferencing, circle sentencing)
    • Restorative Justice in schools, workplaces, communities, prisons (e.g. programs & peacemaking circles)
  5. Government & Institutional Involvement
    • Legislative and policy direction for restorative justice (federal and international)
    • Positioning within and outside of the criminal justice system
  6. Assessing and Evaluating the Effectiveness of Restorative Justice Programs
    • Research and evaluating restorative justice programs
    • Guarding against co-opting restorative justice for punitive ends, undue offender orientation, expansion of social control or budget cut backs
Learning Activities

The course will employ a variety of instructional methods to accomplish its objectives, including some of the following:  lectures, guest speakers, group work and a high degree of class participation.
Means of Assessment

The evaluation will be based on the course objectives and in accordance with Douglas College policy.  The instructor will provide specific evaluation requirements to the student at the beginning of the semester.  Students may be required to complete in-class examinations, student presentations, essays, term papers, journal entries and comprehensive final examinations. Part of each class will be conducted in a workshop or experiential learning format requiring participation. An example of one possible evaluation scheme would be:

Participation and attendance  15%
Midterm #1  25%
Midterm #2  25%
Term paper and presentation    25%
Final Quiz  10%
Total 100%


       

                                           

Learning Outcomes

At the conclusion of the course the successful student will be able to:

 

  1. Compare and contrast retributive and restorative justice, describing the faith and value basis of each paradigm.
  2. Describe the history of the restorative justice movement.
  3. Identify the central principles of restorative justice.
  4. Explain the roles of the victim, the offender and the community in restorative justice.
  5. Explain the role of the police and government in restorative justice.
  6. Describe victim offender mediation processes.
  7. Describe the victim offender reconciliation process.
  8. Describe circle sentencing.
  9. Describe family group conferencing.
  10. Describe peacemaking circles.
  11. Identify current initiatives in restorative justice both in Canada and elsewhere.
  12. Describe the role of religion in restorative justice.
  13. Discuss the process and tools for assessing and evaluating restorative justice programs.
  14. Recognize the ways in which restorative justice is co-opted for social control, for punitive ends and for budget constraint.
  15. Recognize the depth of restorative justice as a paradigm shift rather than a program through full participation in the course activities.
  16. Improve communication skills through participation in circles and class/group exercises.
Textbook Materials

Textbooks and Materials to be Purchased by Students:

 

Texts will be updated with new editions as needed.  Typical examples are:

Elliott, Elizabeth M. (2011). Security with Care: Restorative Justice and Healthy Societies, Nova Scotia: Fernwood Publishing.

Zehr, Howard. (2015). The Little Book of Restorative Justice, Intercourse, Pennsylvania:  Good Books. 

 

 

       

 

Requisites

Prerequisites

CRIM 1100 and CRIM 1150

Corequisites

No corequisite courses.

Equivalencies

No equivalent courses.

Course Guidelines

Course Guidelines for previous years are viewable by selecting the version desired. If you took this course and do not see a listing for the starting semester / year of the course, consider the previous version as the applicable version.

(Current)

Course Transfers

These are for current course guidelines only. For a full list of archived courses please see https://www.bctransferguide.ca

Institution Transfer Details for CRIM 3376
Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) KPU CRIM 3XXX (3)
Simon Fraser University (SFU) SFU CRIM 2XX (3)
Thompson Rivers University (TRU) TRU CRIM 3151 (3)
Trinity Western University (TWU) TWU HUMA 3XX (3)
University of British Columbia - Okanagan (UBCO) UBCO SOCI_O 2nd (3)
University of British Columbia - Vancouver (UBCV) UBCV ELEV_V 2nd (3)
University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) UFV CRIM 215 (3)
University of Victoria (UVIC) UVIC SOCI 3XX (1.5)

Course Offerings

Winter 2025

CRN Days Instructor Status
Maximum Seats
35
Currently Enrolled
9
Remaining Seats:
26
On Waitlist
0
Building
Coquitlam - Bldg. A
Room
A1150
Times:
Start Time
12:30
-
End Time
15:20
Section Notes

See Legal Studies (LGST) for other university transferable law and legal system courses.