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Incarceration Through the Lens of Genocide and Restorative Justice

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Humanistic Pedagogy Across the Disciplines

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Abstract

This chapter describes one’s effort to connect the principles of restorative justice in genocidal contexts to mass incarceration in a criminology course. After learning these principles, students introduced them to formerly incarcerated women at Hour Children, an organization in New York City. The women then used these principles to articulate their experiences of offending—adopting a new understanding of harm and being harmed. The interactions between students and the women were recorded, and students’ written reflections revealed profound insights into the humanity of formerly incarcerated individuals and the harm that can be perpetuated in and by the criminal justice system.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Hour Children provides comprehensive services that include transitional and permanent supportive housing, licensed childcare, mental health and substance abuse counseling, before and after prison release adult mentoring, workshops on health and nutrition, resume and soft skills building, financial literacy, parenting, educational and employment training, and placement opportunities. According to the organization’s website, as of June 20, 2017, 84 percent of the women of Hour Children had been incarcerated for nonviolent crimes, while 60 percent had been incarcerated for drug-related offenses, with many drug sentences related to mandatory sentencing guidelines. The majority of the women of Hour Children are women of color: 57 percent are African American, 27 percent are Latina, and 16 percent are Caucasian. Less than 50 percent of the women of Hour Children had ever been employed in any capacity before their arrests and nearly two-thirds (65 percent) had poverty-level incomes. The majority of the women receiving services at Hour Children were parenting children under the age of 18.

  2. 2.

    Adapted from Judah Oudshoorn’s “PACS 302 Special Topic: Restorative Justice” Syllabus (Conrad Gebel University College, Waterloo, Ontario ON N2L 3G6, Canada, 2009).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social Sciences, Queensborough Community College, CUNY, Bayside, NY, USA

    Rose Marie Äikäs

Authors
  1. Rose Marie Äikäs
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Correspondence to Rose Marie Äikäs .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social Sciences, Queensborough Community College, CUNY, Bayside, NY, USA

    Amy E. Traver

  2. Harriet and Kenneth Kupferberg Holocaust Center (KHC), Queensborough Community College, CUNY, Bayside, NY, USA

    Dan Leshem

Appendix: Restorative Justice Assignment

Appendix: Restorative Justice Assignment

PART I—Choose a formerly incarcerated woman at Hour Children and explain the basic philosophy of Restorative Justice to her. Then ask her about an experience of injustice or harm experienced or directed at her and how restorative justice could and/or could not apply to this particular situation.Footnote 2

  1. 1.

    Who did you choose to explain it to?

  2. 2.

    Why?

  3. 3.

    What comments/questions did the other person have about restorative justice?

  4. 4.

    How was the experience?

  5. 5.

    What did you learn about restorative justice through the process?

  6. 6.

    What did you feel your partner learned about restorative justice through this process?

  7. 7.

    What suggestions would you make to restorative justice advocates as a result of your efforts?

Academic Component (Do students show an increase in academic content acquisition after the Restorative Justice/Hour Children Project?)

  1. 1.

    Describe and illustrate difficulties encountered by women in New York City upon their release from prison.

  2. 2.

    What might help in reducing recidivism rates? What factors may increase them?

  3. 3.

    What types of programs (prison/community) are most helpful? What types are not?

Personal Growth (Are students more aware of how the work of a community partner impacts their personal lives after the Restorative Justice/Hour Children Project?)

  1. 1.

    What did you know about formerly incarcerated individuals before this project?

  2. 2.

    What were some of your perceptions or beliefs about formerly incarcerated individuals before this project?

  3. 3.

    What can you do to improve the situation of formerly incarcerated individuals?

Civic Engagement (Are students more aware of the civic implications of their community partner’s work after the Restorative Justice/Hour Children Project?)

  1. 1.

    What do you know about the effects of incarceration on the individual and on society?

  2. 2.

    How do you think our course has had an effect on the women served by Hour Children?

  3. 3.

    What skills from our course do you think you can use to address the particular problems faced by the women at Hour Children?

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Äikäs, R.M. (2018). Incarceration Through the Lens of Genocide and Restorative Justice. In: Traver, A., Leshem, D. (eds) Humanistic Pedagogy Across the Disciplines. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95025-9_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95025-9_7

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-95024-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-95025-9

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