COVID-19 and Restorative Justice
Keywords:
Restorative Justice, COVID-19, Restorative Justice values, Restorative Justice processes, Videoconferencing, OnlineAbstract
This paper discusses values and practices of restorative justice (RJ) during COVID-19. It looks at RJ values such as respect, responsibility, relationships, interconnectedness, and creativity, and considers ways to apply them during the pandemic. It describes how organizations in Saskatchewan and elsewhere are adapting their restorative processes and beginning to use videoconferencing to connect with victims and offenders and hold virtual circles. Online platforms offer an important opportunity to conduct RJ at this time of physical distancing and public health restrictions, although virtual processes come with challenges regarding access to justice and respectful communication. There is a need for discussions with Indigenous peoples and restorative justice organizations regarding the potential benefits and challenges of online processes and other technologies. There is also a need for robust research which compares face-to-face, online, and indirect restorative processes. This leads to thoughts about the potential for virtual communities and about healing from the collective trauma related to COVID-19, as well as recommendations for federal and provincial governments and community-based RJ organizations.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Muhammad Asadullah, Barbara Tomporowski
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Authors retain the copyright in their work. Absolutely no fees are charged for users, browsers, readers and authors.
This is an open access journal which means that all content is freely available without charge to the user or his/her institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author.