Will the circle be unbroken? : aboriginal communities, restorative justice, and the challenges of conflict and change /

A Native American saying, "The longest journey you will ever walk is between the mind and the heart," teaches about balance. It is also useful to understand the different approaches of these two books. Both explore the principles and philosophies of restorative justice measures in Aboriginal communities in Canada designed to address the overrepresentation of Aboriginal peoples within the Canadian criminal justice system. Each explains how those measures intend to help Aboriginal communities resolve conflicts and heal from traumatic social conditions, of which criminality is one indication. Both examine particular faces of restorative justice, including sentencing circles, healing circles, and family group conferencing. Both are replete with examples of the development and implementation of restorative justice approaches in Aboriginal communities. Justice as Healing is anthologized, using 43 short articles (34 by indigenous authors) from "Justice as Healing: A Newsletter on Aboriginal Conceptions of Justice," published by the Native Law Centre at the University of Saskatchewan. Will the Circle Be Unbroken is coauthored by two non-Aboriginal scholars and researchers. Many of the Aboriginal contributors to Justice provide a deep insight into cultural world views that a non-Aboriginal person is not likely to provide: they show what makes the blood of restorative justice flow, and are uniformly sympathetic to the capacities of Aboriginal communities.Law professor Dickson-Gilmore (Carleton Univ.) and Canadian government criminologist La Prairie offer a more critical analysis, and do what the Aboriginal authors of Justice would never do: they question the abilities of Aboriginal communities to make restorative justice work and challenge the very notion of community. In this regard, Circle represents the mind, and Justice represents the heart of the journey. Understanding restorative justice in Aboriginal communities is a path walked balancing the heart and the mind, and both books make distinctive contributions. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. All levels/libraries. G. Bruyere Nicola Valley Institute of Technology