Page 29 - Jan/Feb 2017 FTM

schools for Indigenous peoples may have ended (Canada), but there are many ways that racism persists within the apparatus that is criminal justice. As a white person, I need to be aware that I’m not always best-suited to work with certain racialized communities who have been criminalized because
of their race. In fact, I’m much better suited to challenge others of my race to think about taking responsibility for the violence that is white supremacy.
What are some of the most common misperceptions that mental health professionals hold about offenders? Their families?
Actuarial analysis has invaded the helping professions. In the criminal justice field, it is so common to measure and assess risk, and respond accordingly to people who have offended. Yet,
risk assessments are poor predictors of an individual’s future behavior. I’d much rather that people operate from a strengths-based perspective—try to bring out the best in people so often labeled as “the worst.”
For those who feel called to make a career of working in this area, what suggestions or information might you have to share?
Just be you.
This can be a hard area of work. How do you incorporate self-care for yourself? For those with whom you work?
I’ve worked with some men who’ve
done some horrific things. I’ve had my share of nightmares and other versions of vicarious trauma. It has helped me
at times—and I’ve had the luxury or privilege to do so—to step away from the work for a bit. I also try to balance my work. My full-time job is actually as a college professor, so I spend most days teaching, reading, and writing. My work with men who use violence is only a contracted component of my working life. Earlier in my career my practice was full-time, but I always felt like I would have an expiry date unless I found a way to compartmentalize it. Also, early in my career when I thought I could change the world, I had a mentor say that what helped him was being a “half-hearted
fanatic.” I’ve interpreted that to mean that I need to make sure there is as much fun and beauty in my life as taking
on difficult (yet, also at times, fun and beautiful) work.
It’s also hard not to become cynical. Especially working in close proximity to the criminal justice system. Some argue that the system is working as it was intended (to keep marginalized and racialized people down) and needs to be thrown out; others say it is broken and needs reforming. Either way, there are some things seriously wrong with the whole thing. At times, this really gets me down. Having some like-minded colleagues really helps. So does nature— at least for me.
What are the differences in this work in the U.S. vs. Canada? What
is next on the horizon for both countries in this area?
In my research, I’ve mostly looked at youth and juvenile justice systems in Canada and the U.S. There are some significant differences. In Canada, we are embracing some more restorative justice type approaches at the legislative and programmatic levels. We are diverting many young people away from the criminal justice system. In the USA, there are pockets of progressive reforms related to restorative justice, but on the whole, the system is still much more punitive.
That said, the most significant similarity is the criminalization of racialized populations. Rates of African American, Latinos, and Native American youth in conflict with the law are astronomical in the U.S. Similarly for Indigenous youth in Canada.
I’ve argued in my books, Trauma- Informed Youth Justice in Canada (2015a), Trauma-Informed Juvenile Justice in
the United States (2016), and The Little Book of Restorative Justice (2015b) that
a trauma-informed lens, accounting for individual and collective traumas, and adopting a restorative justice framework, is necessary if we are actually interested in community and public safety.
Can you offer us some inspiring or hopeful stories about moments that really touched you?
Recently, at the college where I teach,
I was walking with my head down
from one class to another. Through
the din of shuffling feet and muddied conversations, I heard my name. I looked up to see a former client from a program for dads I had co-facilitated. He was leaning against the wall, with a backpack full of books and a wide smile. I smiled back. We talked briefly. He told me about getting his life on track and about having a relationship again with his children and partner. As we parted he said, “I’m proof that the program for dads worked.”
In addition to the work described, Judah Oudshoorn, MA, is a mediator with the Restorative Justice Division of the Correctional Service Canada, a
counselor/advocate for male survivors of sexual abuse at the Sexual Assault Support Centre of Waterloo Region, and editor of the Justice Studies series with Canadian Scholar’s Press. He
is passionate about engaging men, particularly dads, to end male violence, and learning from Indigenous peoples about his responsibilities as a settler to end colonization
References
Augusta-Scott, T., Scott, K., & Tutty, L. M. (2017). Innovations in interventions to address intimate partner violence: Research and practice. Routledge.
Delgado Bernal, D. (2002). Critical race theory, latino critical theory, and critical raced-gendered epistemologies. Qualitative Inquiry. 8(1): 105–126.
Jenkins, A. (1990). Invitations to responsibility: The therapeutic engagement of men who are violent and abusive. Adelaide: Dulwich Centre Publications.
Lauwaert, K., & Aertsen, I. (Eds.). (2015). Desistance and restorative justice: Mechanisms for desisting from crime within restorative justice practices. European Forum for Restorative Justice, Belgium.
Oudshoorn, J. (2015a). The little book of restorative justice for sexual abuse: Hope through trauma. Battleboro, VT: Good Books.
Oudshoorn, J. (2015b). Trauma-informed youth justice in Canada. Toronto: Canadian Scholars’ Press.
Oudshoorn, J. (2016). Trauma-informed juvenile justice in the United States. Toronto: Canadian Scholars’ Press.
JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2017 27