Restorative Justice in Athlone

            Last week was our home-stay in Athlone, a community just outside of Cape Town. The week was spent learning about the history and culture of the coloured people of South Africa. Athlone was a safe neighborhood and friendly place during the day, but at night the streets were very much dominated by gangs.

            One of the most impactful moments of the week for me was when we got a chance to meet some of the members of these gangs. On Thursday we went to Pollsmoor Correctional Facility to learn about restorative justice. Restorative justice is working with the perpetrator of a crime to acknowledge that there was wrong done by them, so that they take responsibility for the crime. Then they work with the inmate to understand that what they did caused pain not only to the victim and the victims family, but also their own family. They must also learn to face the pain in their life that they may be projecting on others.

            We had the privilege of seeing first hand the effect of restorative justice on the inmates of Poolsmoor. We sat next to murderers, thieves, and rapists and talked to them about the restoration process in their lives. It’s amazing how much more human a murderer is when you take the time to talk to them and just listen to their life experiences.

            One of the men I had a chance to talk to was in for 5 years for manslaughter, he had killed a 96 year old woman while driving drunk. He told me of his childhood, he shared with me a story he just told for the first time in his life the week before during a restorative justice session. It was only the second time he had told anyone that his father had been physically abusive to him, that two of his uncles had molested him by day and another uncle every night for a number of years starting when he was six. These events led to an enormous amount of pent up anger in his life that led to some bad life decisions he has made. But I was able to see the restoration at work in this mans life. He did not seem angry and had acknowledged his own wrongs along with the wrongs done to him. He was also working to come to terms with himself about his father and uncles.

            Restorative Justice fact: In Pollsmoor 80% of inmates who get out re-offend, only 20% of inmates who have been through restorative justice re-offend.

Look up what restorative justice is doing in Canada and the United States.
-Jake Bontrager-Singer