Restoring Our Nation

Restoring our nation By Leela Ramdeen, Chair of CCSJ

In his recent Pastoral Letter, Archbishop Edward J. Gilbert stated:

“Violence and death have touched many people in our nation… A sense of powerlessness and vulnerability is developing among the people… Healing and hope are needed… It is time for the community to speak as a community…to gather together for listening, dialogue and mutual support…to make the decision to take charge of its life.”

The community he refers to includes those who are incarcerated. Our challenge is to promote and implement a restorative justice model of criminal justice that leads to a more holistic way of responding to the needs of all those affected by crime.

I joined members from other faith communities on Sunday, January 25 at Arouca Maximum Security Prison, to share some inspirational words with inmates there as part of a national day of prayer, organised by the T&T Prison Service and the Council of Prison Chaplains and Ministers. We must never underestimate the power of prayer and the value of spirituality in our lives.

For the first time ever, all eight prisons around our country engaged in 24 hours of prayer for the healing of our nation. I commend the organisers of this initiative and those in the Prison Service who have embraced a restorative justice approach.

It was a moving experience to hear the testimonies of inmates who are seeking to turn their lives around. However, the plea of one inmate in particular still rings in my ears. He urged all faith communities to get together and devise strategies to support those who eventually leave prison.

There are many individuals working diligently on programmes in our prisons to assist inmates to turn their lives around. My commission’s “Walk Tall” 40-week programme at Golden Grove Prison, led by Fr Matthew D’Hereaux, is one such programme. It aims to create in participants a greater sense of self, of community, of God and of the social consequences of crime.

We are raising funds to purchase a property for a half-way house to continue to work with those who enter this programme on their release. If you wish to contribute to our project, please make cheques payable to the Catholic Commission for Social Justice and send it to Archbishop’s House, 27 Maraval Road, POS.

Ellen Camps also runs courses in our prisons.

“Our prison population is approximately 5,000 — most of whom are poor, poorly educated, with few marketable skills,” says Ellen. “About 60 per cent of released offenders return to prison. The discrimination that former prisoners face is daunting. They need help to break the cycle of incarceration. They usually can’t do it alone.” The T&T Prison Service itself has embarked on a process of correctional education. Such education has a central role to play in the reformation process but support systems post- release are critical.

Terence T Gorski states that successful reintegration depends on:

* Having a safe place to go that will not promote cycles of re-offending, leading to re- incarceration.

* Getting a job.

* Money or living aid, while looking for a job.

* Shaking off the effects of post-prison incarceration syndrome.

On Sunday at Arouca MSP, I was asked to focus on compensation/restitution. Restitution has a special sense in Christian moral theology. It signifies an act of commutative justice by which exact reparation as far as possible is made for an injury that has been done to another. Our criminal justice system should provide more opportunities for restitution.

In one sense restitution can be seen as the money a magistrate/judge orders a convicted offender to pay to the victim(s), families, survivors, etc to compensate for damages related to a crime. The amount of restitution ordered by the court is contingent upon the victim’s expenses related to the crime and the offender’s ability to pay.

Restitution can be ordered for all expenses related to the crime, e.g. medical bills, property loss/damage, etc. Victims can take civil action for financial compensation for loss due to physical pain and/or emotional trauma.

Restitution, as part of an offender’s sentence or a condition of community supervision, is an essential aspect of holding offenders accountable for their crimes. Restitution may or may not involve monetary payments. It may involve returning property that was stolen, providing services to the victim or undertaking some form of community service.

Numerous studies have identified restitution as one of the most significant factors related to victim satisfaction with the criminal justice process. A victim’s financial losses can contribute to his/her experience of trauma and frustration with the criminal justice system.

Although restitution usually cannot completely undo the damage done, receiving restitution payment can make victims feel that the justice system is working on their behalf to ensure that they are justly compensated for their losses. It must be stated though that the ordering, collecting and disbursing of restitution require strong collaborative efforts among many justice agencies. Restitution can help victims reconstruct their lives in the aftermath of a crime. It also offers the offender a means to restore himself/herself — to undergo a real change of character. Mere imprisonment cannot do this. Working with the purpose of paying back someone that has been wronged allows an offender to understand and deal with the real consequences of his/her actions.

Studies demonstrate that restitution programmes greatly reduce the incidence of further crime, since they restore a sense of individual responsibility, making the offender more likely to be able to adjust to society. Reducing recidivism is the most direct way to reduce crime.

Restitution can be accomplished not only as a result of a court order. In many countries today, restitution is seen as an alternative to imprisonment for non-violent offenders, e.g. supervised community service.

In England I was involved in a number of community mediation programmes in which compensation/restitution played a major role and had great impact on the offender. For example, in a case involving vandalism of an old woman’s prized rose garden by a group of young people, victim-offender mediation sessions and family group conferencing enabled the woman to express her loss.

During the sessions the youths came to understand the harm they had done. They apologised and agreed to make restitution. The group discussed the impact of the crime and made a mutually agreed-upon plan that held the offenders accountable, provided the victim with input and restitution, and diverted the matter from court.

T&T’s Community Service Act has the potential to create opportunities for offenders to make restitution to victims and/or to the community. However, we do not have adequate mechanisms to ensure that the provisions of this Act can be implemented effectively. I hope that in the not too distant future, mediation will become a part of the development of a new ethic in T&T which can support a more generative view of human life.

Many have strayed from the moral and spiritual values that should guide our lives. Our problems are also our opportunities. Let us take this opportunity to make a petition to God and ask Him to bless our land, to forgive us our wrongdoings, to transform us by His love and to reconcile us to Himself and to each other.