Contact:
Tania Arvanitidis, 604.341.1776, tarvanit@sfu.ca
Brenda Morrison, 778.782.7627, 778.668.1827 (cell), brendam@sfu.ca
Christopher Ducharme, 604.562.1020 (cell), chris@ducharme-online.com
Carol Thorbes, PAMR, 778.782.3035, cthorbes@sfu.ca

Photos for download: http://at.sfu.ca/SdLvFH

Video: Brenda Morrison on restorative justice at.sfu.ca/CclGuZ

Tania Arvanitidis’ argument that restorative justice rather than jail sentences could better hold accountable youth convicted of involvement in the June 15, 2011 Stanley Cup riot and help their victims couldn’t be more timely.

While preparing to defend her master’s thesis, which draws that conclusion, the Simon Fraser University criminology student is also training to run in the annual Scotiabank Vancouver Half-Marathon and 5k. The Scotiabank Group Charity Challenge 2013 event on June 23 is a fundraiser for the B.C. Victims of Homicide (BCVOH) group.

Dedicated to helping survivors associated with homicide victims get on with their lives, the group has helped 350 survivors nationally, 115 locally, since its inception two years ago.

Although victim-centred, the BCVOH partners with restorative-justice programs to help its clients.

A research-based, community-minded approach to justice, restorative justice focuses on helping offenders rehabilitate and crime victims heal by engaging them in voluntary dialogue.

Arvanitidis’ findings in her thesis From Revenge to Restoration: Evaluating General Deterrence as a Key Sentencing Purpose for Rioters in Vancouver, British Columbia and the BCVOH’s purpose dovetail well.

Arvanitidis’ thesis supervisor, a criminologist and the director of SFU’s Centre for Restorative Justice, Brenda Morrison is also team-captain of the SFU Hummingbirds — a Scotiabank team raising money for the BCVOH. She sees Arvanitidis’ research as pivotal to raising awareness of the BCVOH’s importance.

“Restorative justice, at its heart, is community-born and community-led. It aims to promote healing for those affected by crime and injustice,” says Morrison. “The BCVOH’s work is about healing through connection.”

Arvanitidis’ thesis reviewed the reasons why Crown Counsel recommended custody sentences for 19 of the 20 first adults convicted in Vancouver riot. Her study also examined the population characteristics of all the approximately 130 adult rioters given court sentences, June 15, 2011-November 1, 2012.

Arvanitidis used this data to do a cost-benefit analysis of how much the court system, and ultimately taxpayers, could have saved by giving all the young, nonviolent, first time convicted rioters alternative sentences to custody.

The alternatives included community-service orders and discharges upon completion of a restorative justice (RJ) program or complete diversion from the court system into an RJ program.

Arvanitidis, conservatively, estimates the court system could have saved taxpayers $9,000 per offender had many of the rioters been given the option of going through restorative justice programs rather than doing time.

“Not only is the cost of sentencing and jailing so many rioters in such a short period of time enormously costly and cumbersome to the provincial justice system, but it unnecessarily burdens a lot of otherwise good kids, who want to make things right, with criminal records and jail time.”

Adds the two-time participant in the Scotiabank event’s fundraiser for the BCVOH: "It will likely leave many affected by the riot still in need of healing and closure, too. I don’t think the punitive approach adopted will have a lot of tangible benefits for the city - it really only satisfies abstract notions of justice, but at a huge cost.”

“Tania’s research supports data coming out of the United Kingdom that found that restorative justice played an important role in responding to the 2011 UK riot cases.  The process strengthened the justice system through increasing the voice of those most affected,” says Morrison.

The Scotiabank event (half-mara at 7:30/5k at 9:30 a.m., UBC to Stanley Park) on June 23 raises money for more than 70 charities, including the BCVOH, an initiative of the B.C. Bereavement Helpline (BCBH).

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Backgrounder:
Restorative justice student studies riot convictions

Christopher Ducharme, a Scotiabank employee whose mother was murdered when he was a teenager, founded the B.C. Victims of Homicide (BCVOH) group in 2011.

During the last four years, he has made dozens of presentations to about 1500 mostly third and fourth year criminology students at SFU about how the BCVOH benefits its clients.

“Specifically, these discussions are focused on drawing on the personal experiences of BCVOH clients to educate students about the contrasts and complements between the criminal justice and restorative justice processes,” says Ducharme.

“My presentations are intended to educate students who will be front-line workers about the very real implications of crime, the trauma and benefits of healing processes that work for survivors.”

Noting that B.C. has the third highest homicide rate in Canada, Ducharme adds that the province’s 214 homicides between 2009 and 2011 led to more than 5,300 associates of homicide victims being directly impacted.

He views the SFU Hummingbirds’ and other teams’ efforts to raise $30,000 for the BCVOH this year as crucial to the group’s survival. Unique in Canada, it hosts different series of eight-week bereavement workshops, a monthly drop-in support group for their graduates and a social/community outreach event.

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