Online Resources for Teachers:
Restorative Justice
Information
The following materials are intended to help teachers and their students learn more about restorative justice, with particular attention to how it is applied to youth in the criminal justice system.
IMPORTANT NOTE (March 13, 2012): Parliament has now passed Bill C-10, which will introduce some changes to laws affecting youth, such as the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA). The materials on this site are currently being revised to reflect these legislative changes, and the updated versions will be posted as they are completed. In the meantime, please note that some of these documents will have outdated information. To see a summary of the changes to the YCJA, please refer to this page on the Parliament of Canada website.
PLEASE NOTE: All documents are in PDF format except where otherwise indicated. To view them, you will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader, available for free at this link. To save the document to your computer, right-click on the link and choose “Save Target As…” or “Save link as…”.
Introduction
Intended For: Teachers, Secondary Grade Level
This document is a brief introduction to the topic of restorative justice, and offers a basic definition, outlines its nature, and gives some examples of its application, including in the youth criminal justice system. The document also lists a number of sources for further information and study, advisory contacts and online resources. While the introduction has been written for teachers, it may be useful for students as well.
Lessons
Student Activity Worksheets
Intended For: Secondary Grade Level
This document contains a series of worksheets for use by students. The activities include a series of question and answer activities, a classroom activity focused on a case study, and similar group-based activities involving role-play based on case studies. Teachers should also download the Answer Key below.
Teacher Answer Key for Student Worksheets
Intended For: Teachers
This document contains the answer key for the question and answer activities, and additional information on the classroom case study activity. To be used with the worksheets above.
Links
The following links are to external resources that teachers may find useful for lesson plan source material, student exploration and expansion of personal knowledge on this topic. Please contact us to report any broken links.
Alberta Restorative Justice Association – an excellent resource for materials, books and video
Alberta Restorative Justice Association – Restorative Justice Programs in Alberta
Restorative Justice Online – a major online resource for everything concerning restorative justice
The Centre for Restorative Justice at Simon Fraser University
Restorative Justice – Department of Justice Canada’s fact sheet
Restorative Justice in Canada: what victims should know
(Prepared by the Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime)
The Youth Criminal Justice Act: A Step Forward for the Advocates of Restorative Justice (PDF)
Victim Offender Mediation Association
Community Justice Forum: Canadian Resource Guide
Department of Justice Canada – Restorative Justice Page
“Restorative Justice: A Vision for Healing and Change” by Susan Sharpe
(Ordering information for the book, available from the Mediation and Restorative Justice Centre, Edmonton)
Alberta – Provincial Restorative Justice Programs and Services
A list maintained by Correctional Service of Canada, includes contact information and links to sites
Restorative Justice Program – developed by The Society for Safe and Caring Schools and Communities
Includes downloadable resources on restorative justice, including lesson plans