Circle Sentencing as Alternative Dispute Resolutions
While the restorative justice movement has risen in recent years, the idea of circle sentencing, or peacemaking circles has been practiced in indigenous cultures for quite some time. As we look at implementing traditional indigenous culture practices as alternative dispute resolutions, we need to realize the effectiveness and also whether we are ready to use them. The Yukon and other communities reintroduced circles in 1991 as a practice of the restorative justice movement (Bazemore, 1997, p.27). Around that same time, Minnesota made the breakthrough in borrowing the practices with each band of Native Americans having their own political communications. Because Minnesota has seven
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33). In the process of circles the setting is very relaxed, it taking place wherever the group wants. They do have the members of most courtrooms with a judge, probation officer, court recorder, and community members along with the victim and their family. Since the processes are so community orientated, the actual process of the circle will vary (Roberts, 1996, p.70.) During traditional settings, prayer at the beginning of the sentence will occur, along with some sort of sacred object, which is usually a feather that members pass to one another as a talking stick. This gives the person holding the feather the power to say what they feel, and give the process a sense of organization, and most importantly, it prevents one-on-one confrontations (Ulrich, 1999, p.425).
What problems occur with the implementation of aboriginal circles?
When looking at the current criminal justice system in Canada, New Zealand, and Australia, it is clear that it has failed in the treatment of aboriginal people. This problem has strengthened the idea of restorative justice as a replacement of the traditional system. When looking at implementing circles into that realm of restorative justice, there needs to be an agreement that their practices are diverse, and therefore not to force the issue. Many traditional practices are very spiritually based, and it needs to be evident that
Resolving conflicts is one of the most appreciated characteristics of a human being. It may afford one to be at peace, either, with themselves or others. Throughout North America history many conflicts arose between settlers and native people leading to a colonization procedure. Unfortunately, Canada continues to struggle with this ongoing process, which almost annihilated more than the First Nations culture. Aboriginals were forced to assimilate other culture while somehow had to find a way to bury their traumas during this terrible endeavour. To remediate this ongoing process, some authors voice this situation using their own experiences aiming for a resolution. Evidently, distinct approaches are
Circle Justice was developed in the 1980s and is use to help bring healing and understanding to the victim or the offender. Circle Justice is used mostly by the Yukon, Saskatchewan, and the Manitoba but the Navajo also used circles like in Canada. Reasons why I think the circles are bad, I think they are bad because: there is no council and people make the laws not officials, people with really bad crimes get out of
Aboriginal circle sentencing in New South Wales (NSW) is a form of restorative justice and was introduced largely to deal with the over representation and incarceration of indigenous people in the criminal justice system. Government programs thus far do not seem to have made a significant impact in addressing this problem. Circle sentencing was first introduced in NSW in Nowra in 2002 and was primarily based on the Canadian model of restorative justice. Research conducted on the effectiveness of circle sentencing in NSW is difficult to decipher due to the different research methods used and the way effectiveness is tested, however circle sentencing has been shown to have some success in the indigenous community. The implications of these findings
Circle Justice is a system created by Native Americans and is used in Canada, Minnesota, and Alaska. They circle justice uses a microphone to make sure the speaker is heard clearly. It opens and closes with some sort of ceremony. The Participants sent guidelines in a conversation about what the person did and what they are talking about with the person (What do you mean by “circle”). People could be scared to speak for themselves.
Throughout history, the Native people of North America and the Europeans have continually had arguments and disputes over land. To this day there are still issues trying to be resolved. Twenty years ago, the beginning of one of the most violent and intense land disputes in present day Canada occurred. This event is now referred to as the Oka Crisis, named after the town Oka in Quebec. This crisis caused a confrontation involving the Quebec provincial police, the Canadian armed forces and the Mohawk people.1 The stand that the Mohawk people took in the town of Oka became a major revelation for the aboriginal people spreading awareness of aboriginal rights across Canada.
They could adopt one of the most effective types of aboriginal justice; circle justice. However to truly understand how effective circle justice is we fully understand how the system works. Circle justice is a form of restorative justice, which everyone is treated as equals and the offenders and victims get a chance to talk uninterrupted. Circle justice is a type of Canadian
We are learning that when genuine 'Indigenous' Justice is hiding under the cloak of Western paradigms, we continue to see the rising population of Indigenous peoples--especially Indigenous women--in prisons. Our programs and rehabilitative initiatives remain under Western paradigms, even when painted with the brush of 'restorative' or 'indigenous'
Circle Justice is a originating in Canada that seeks healing in contrast to the regular punishment ways and is portrayed in Ben Mikaelsen's two novels Touching Spirit Bear and Ghost of Spirit Bear.
Bopp and Bopp (2007: 45) argue that the tendency of making use of uniform strategies in restorative justice loses values and often overlooks the heterogeneity of identities as well as the experience of the native people. This means that it is important to acknowledge the differences amongst the aboriginal people. It is evident that the use of retributive model of justice has been used in many of the corrections in Canada. This method has not been effective in reducing crime amongst the aboriginal people.
Circle justice is a court comprised of members of the community who come together to cast judgement upon someone convicted of something and think of a suitable punishment that will both help the victim and the perpetrator. Some of the things this may include for smaller incidents such as killing an animal would include the perpetrator getting a new dog for the victim and help take care of the dog. This not only helps the victim forgive and heal but it also helps the perpetrator think why the thing they did was wrong and learn how to fix what they did. This system worked better for Cole because of the fact that Cole needed to have his anger and superiority complex treated for him to be able to function. Prison could help Cole with his superiority
Circles were found by the Native American cultures of the United States and Canada. These circles are used for many purposes. In the 1980s, the criminal justice system adapted and developed as the people of a first nation. Local justice officials had attempted to start building closer ties with the community and formal justice system. Going into 1991, Judge Barry introduced the “sentencing circle.” The sentencing circle means that the justice process will be shared with the community. The best-known sentencing circles were called the “Hollow Water First Nations Community Holistic Healing Circle.” The members of the community would gather around to deal with a high level of alcoholism. These circles represented a safe zone. Many had begun to
Provision [SCRGSP], 2005; Jeffries and Bond, 2012). It is also widely discussed that there is an overrepresentation of Indigenous Australians in the criminal justice system itself (Jeffries and Bond, 2009), representing up to one quarter of prisoners in Australia (Makkai and Payne, 2003; Payne, 2005). This essay will address the current issues that Indigenous Australians face within the criminal justice system, particularly, with courts. The aim of this essay besides addressing these issues will also be to provide suggestions or alternatives that may help resolve the presented issues and improve the experience for Indigenous Australians in court.
The healing circle is valuable technique used within Aboriginal communities to initiate healing through their own traditional belief systems (Stevenson, 1999). Traditionally, “a sharing of one’s journey is a great teacher, for it acknowledges that the pain, laughter, and love we experience can bring us closer together and helps us to learn from one another’s experiences” (Stevenson, 1999, p.9). Moreover, Aboriginal peoples created the healing circle to help each other learn by personal experiences, and to ensure the community says connected to one another. An organization that uses healing circles to connect individuals is called the Community Holistic Circle Healing. This organization uses healing circles as a response to sexual abuse in
Matters concerning informed consent, whether such notions pertain to the scope of mining or not, is another obvious limiting factor that continues to infringe on the rights of indigenous populations. The Negotiated Justice Model presents a valid means of amelioration with respect to the issues covered so far during this module, however, the economic authority that these billionaire mining corporations have, appear to take precedence over the essential human rights of indigenous populations; in spite of the fact that legislature has attempted to resolve this problem. Like large pharmaceutical companies, through analysis it is quite clear that money is the motivating factor for these mining corporations to posses such authority. Unlike large
The circle of justice helps participants respond from one's best self. Circles are indigenous people around the world for millennia and indigenous peoples have their own ways of conducting circle type processes. The precedes and it treated as equally important as tackling difficult issues.