Response to two students on the Discussion – Restorative Justice
Below is the scenario we were discussing:
Scenario
Charles is 15-years old and lives at home with his mom and dad. Charles’s dad is an alcoholic, and mom works two jobs to pay the bills. Charles is not doing well in school and often roams the streets after school with friends.
One night, Charles left home because his mom and dad were arguing. Charles is tired of domestic violence and just wants to get away from it. Charles releases his teenage anger, sadness, and frustration by engaging in property crimes. On this night, Charles damaged 12 mailboxes with a baseball bat.
When police arrived in the area, Charles ran off but was captured after a short chase. Charles tossed the bat that police found in a yard. Charles admitted to what he did, and police notified a juvenile intake worker who told police to take Charles home. Charles was turned over to his parents.
A few days later, Charles was interviewed by a county social worker. Charles cried as he explained his dad’s alcoholism and the domestic violence that occurs weekly. The social worker recommended to the juvenile court that Charles should participate in a restorative justice program.
***For the reply posts, select two peers and address the following:
• Comment on the program(s) that your peer has recommended for Charles.
• Is the program a viable option? Why or why not?
• Is there another program that should be considered for Charles?
Elly Thompson
an hour ago, at 9:50 PM
Restorative Justice is typically a face-to-face meeting with the offender and victim to talk to the offender about how the crime affected the victim. Charles is the victim of emotional abuse and Charles’s father would be the offender. As well as Charles vs. the people whose mailboxes he smashed. Restitution is definitely needed as a consequence of his actions.
I would suggest that Charle’s father be required to do Anger Management, parenting classes, and AA.
I think Charles should go to Alateen, which is a program to help teens understand alcoholism and some sort of counseling service with anger management attached.
Houston Lasseter
2 hours ago, at 9:01 PM
Restorative justice is a face to face meeting with the victim and the offender to sit down a discuss how the offense affected the victim. In this case it would be between Charles and his father, and they would talk about how his fathers drinking is affecting his relationship with his son and wife. The program i would suggest for Charles to do is anger management classes to help with his anger issues. And for the father i would suggest a program that will help with his drinking problems.