Circles Part I
CIRCLES
Circles are found in the Native American cultures of the United States and Canada, and are used there for many purposes. Known as - Talking circles, Healing Circles, Peace Circles or Restorative Justice Circles - Circles have been adapted to the criminal justice system in the US since the 1980s when the First Nation peoples of the Yukon and local justice officials attempted to build closer ties between the community and the formal justice system. In schools across the United States Restorative Justice Circles are being introduced in attempts to challenge the school-to-prison pipeline phenomena. The school-to-prison pipeline begins with the zero-tolerance policies in schools where administrators refer students for punishment which can lead to suspensions and expulsions from school resulting in the increased likelihood of young people being introduced into the criminal justice system.
Healing Circles or Restorative Justice Circles are a way of dealing with the harm created by the offender, while healing the harmed and restoring the community. The process builds on the values of respect, honesty, listening, truth and sharing. In a safe nonhierarchical Circle, participants have the opportunity to speak without interruptions or one-to-one debating or attacking. Bringing in the family members of both the person harmed and offenders along with community representatives concerned or impacted by a crime or offense the participants in the Circle describe how they feel. For the offender, this includes why he/she committed the crime. For the person harmed and each of the community participants, the Circle provides an opportunity to explain the impact the crime has had on them economically, physically, and emotionally. Through this process of sharing participants are able to develop a strategy for addressing the crime (i.e. restitution, or community service) and the causes of the crime. In this way the Circle creates the opportunity for positive transformation for everyone involved. In many cases the participants find their own equitable solution to the problem with the hope that a solution created by the people involved is more likely to work over time.
In Sliding Into Home Flip surprises himself when he takes weeks of pent up feelings of frustration and punches Steve who has been verbally and physically abusing him. Steve and Flip are sent to the camp administrators office where Flip realizes he doesn’t want the adults to solve the problems that exist between he and Steve.
I decided the minute Steve’s father walked into the room that I’m not going to rat him out. I don’t want Mr. Hathaway, Coach Carl, Ms Litway or our parents to stick their adult ideas and solutions between Steve and me. I need to finish this. It’s mine. If I tell the adults in this room about the things Steve has said and done over the past three weeks, I know they’ll want to rescue me. I don’t want to be rescued.
But when the Coach does find out about Steve's racist comments and physical abuse Steve is expelled from camp. Neither of the boys find resolution. Steve disappears and Flip is left without any sense of closure.
Coach Carl tells Flip,“He won’t be coming back. He’s been asked to leave and he’ll not be coming back to this camp again.”
He sounds so proud. I feel deflated and lost. I don’t want him to be gone. I want him to come back. I’m certain Steve has the answers to so many of my questions.
What if Flip’s camp practiced Restorative Justice? What if Flip and Steve, the administrators and parents and even some of the campers who witnessed the abuse sat together in Circle and spoke about how each was impacted by the verbal and physical assaults? What if Steve had been allowed to speak about what it was like growing up in a home with a racist father? If Flip could have spoken about what it was like for him to be targeted because of his race - is this where the healing might have begun?
As Sliding Into Home moves into the schools, it is my hope that class discussions about race, discrimination, divorce and adoption can be done in Circles in order to promote collaborative thinking and create a sense of community and trust.
Coming soon - an interview with Cassidy Friedman – Director and Producer of the film Circles a restorative justice documentary.