Restoring the professor and the students: a circle process and contemplative practices in a restorative justice seminar

Abstract

Limited research is published on teaching restorative justice in the criminal justice or justice studies curriculum in higher education. This article contributes to the discourse on restorative justice pedagogy by discussing a restorative justice seminar that is taught in a circle process with contemplative practices. Students learn the process of circles, one of the major processes in restorative justice practice, by modeling the practice with participation and leadership. Contemplative practices enhance the learning of restorative justice with meditation and reflection.

Keywords:

• restorative justice
• circle process
• contemplative practices
• meditation
• pedagogy

Notes

1. There is a small movement away from criminal justice to justice studies as the designate term for a major that is more inclusive than the study of the existing law enforcement, legal and correctional systems of the US, one that offers such courses as social inequality, gender issues, human rights, conflict resolution, global issues, and urban studies. Many universities and colleges entitle a major with a criminal justice component: Justice Studies, Peace and Justice Studies, or Crime and Justice Studies. A few examples are Arizona State University (Justice Studies), University of Massachusetts/Dartmouth (Crime and Justice Studies), Fordham University (Peace and Justice Studies), Roger Williams University (School of Justice Studies), University of New Hampshire (Justice Studies), Guilford College (Justice and Policy Studies).

2. Colleges such as Messiah College, Marygrove University, Guilford College, and universities such as George Mason University, San Francisco State University, Loyola University in New Orleans, Northern Arizona University, Niagara University, and Naropa University, and graduate programs in criminal justice such as St. Joseph’s University, John Jay College, and several law schools such as Marquette University Law School, Loyola Law School Los Angeles and Northeastern University School of Law.

3. I sometimes open the first class with the Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi:Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,Where there is hatred, let me sow love;Where there is injury, pardon;Where there is doubt, faith;Where there is despair, hope;Where there is darkness, light;And where there is sadness, joy.O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seekto be consoled as to console;to be understood as to understand;to be loved as to love.For it is in giving that we receive;it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

4. From The Healing River materials, I may begin with this quote attributed to Albert Einstein: “A human being is part of a whole, called by us the ‘Universe’- a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts, and feelings, as something separated from the rest – a kind of optical delusion of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”

5. 7th Summer Session on Contemplative Curriculum Development, August 7-12, 2011. The Contemplative Mind in Society.http://www.contemplativemind.org

6. www.heartspeakproductions.ca

7. Available through pbs.org

8. http://rjp.umn.edu/resources/videos.html#Vo15

9. http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=5153451n

10. http://bookstore.usip.org/books/BookDetail.aspx?productID=171689

11. ‘The Lost Boys of Sudan’ refers to the over 20,000 children, mostly boys age 7–17, separated from families during the civil war in Sudan. About 3,800 of these children were resettled in the US from refugee camps.