Restorative Justice or Restorative Health

• Author: Margaret A. Jackson,Angela D. Henderson
• DOI: 10.1177/0887403405281185
• Date: 01 June 2006
• Published date: 01 June 2006
• Subject Matter: Articles

10.1177/0887403405281185Criminal Justice Policy ReviewJackson, Henderson / Restorative Health

Restorative Justice

or Restorative Health

Which Model Best Fits the Needs of

Marginalized Girls in Canadian Society?

Margaret A. Jackson

Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia

Angela D. Henderson

University of British Columbia, Vancouver

Restorative health refers to a construct applicable for those who have been denied access

to resources and support necessary for healthy functioning. In two different studies,

marginalized girls were interviewed about their experiences of health and justice. Based

on their responses and their lived realities, recommendations for a restorative health

approach to address their needs are made. The authors argue that a preventative restor-

ativehealth model would be more effective than a Restorative Justice model in promoting

well-being for these girls.

Keywords: restorative health; restorative justice; marginalized girls; Canada

Marginalized girls, because of the intersectionality of race, gender,and poverty in

their lives, are at higher risk for being targeted for aggression or becoming

aggressive themselves.Because of these same factors, the girls are also vulnerable to a

deteriorating state of health. Marginalized girls who have already been affected to the

extent of being labeled street youth or youth in custody are those most affected by the

disadvantage of the intersectionality phenomenon. In McCreary Centre Society

(2002), three quarters of the street youth and youth in custody were found to have been

abused in British Columbia while in Grades 7 to 12 (p. 8). Among girls in school, a his-

tory of both physical and sexual abuse was associated with more deleterious health

effects than a history of either type of abuse alone (p. 8).

Furthermore, girls in trouble with the law—whether in custody, under probation

orders, or other community sanctions—generally have more negative factors inter-

234

Criminal Justice

Policy Review

Volume 17 Number 2

June 2006 234-251

© 2006 Sage Publications

10.1177/0887403405281185

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Authors’Note: This research was fundedby a grant fromSSHRC Grant# 829-1999-1002.The authors wish

to acknowledgethe contributions of Natalie Clarke, Azmina Ladha, and Renata Aebi in the collection of the

data.

secting in their lives (Reitsma-Street, 1999). Among the critical issues for girls in con-

flict with the law, Reitsma-Street (1999) identifies the following: continuing inequi-

ties despite equality under the law,unjust variations in practice despite a national law,

and profound but invisible racism injustice against girls. She notes that a significant

number of the charges against young women are for failure to comply with judicial

orders (27.3% of the total female cases in 1995-1996, Canada-wide). More generally

speaking, Reitsma-Street found that “unemployment and poverty among youth are

increasing in Canada at the same time as the entitlements of youth to public assistance,

social services, higher education, and good jobs are being reduced, especially for

girls” (p. 4).

The impacts of poverty on the girl child occur at different levelsand are mostly del-

eterious (Jiwani, Janovicek, & Cameron, 2002, p. 60). A few of these include mental

health problems such as depression and suicide, social isolation, marginalization, and

safety concerns (Canadian Coalition for the Rights of Children, 2003). In an article by

Kreiger (2000) entitled, “Discrimination and Health,” the author identifies fivestruc-

tural trajectories that operate throughout an individual’s life that can affect one’slife.

Three of these are of most salience for the present paper:

1. Economic and social deprivation

2. Socially-inflicted trauma

3. Inadequate health care (including access to care, diagnosis, and treatment) (p. 64)

As we argue in the article, these trajectories are more appropriately intercepted by a

preventative restorative health (RH) approach rather than a restorative justice (RJ)

approach to secure the best interests of the child.

Restorative Justice:

An Appropriate Model for Systemic Problems?

In Canada, RJ is used to describe a wide diversityof justice initiatives, from condi-

tional sentencing to victim-offender mediation programs. They are also referenced

through a variety of terms such as transformativejustice and peace and alternate mea-

sures. Cameron(2003) cites Hudson and Galloway (1996) in their articulation of three

fundamental elements of any RJ definition and practice:

First, crime is viewedprimarily as a conflict between individuals that results in injuries to

victims, communities, and the offenders themselves, and only secondarily as a violation

against the state. Second, the aim of the criminal justice process should be to create peace

in communities by reconciling the parties and repairing the injuries caused by the dis-

pute. Third, the criminal justice process should facilitate active participation by victims,

offenders, and their communities to find solutions to the conflict. (pp. 51-52)

Against the above background, we begin by proceeding to consider RJ as a suitable

alternative to achievewell-being before moving on to consider RH as a construct suit-

Jackson, Henderson / Restorative Health 235