“Restoration, reconciliation, and healing: The revitalization of culture and tradition in addressing crime and victimization in Canadian aboriginal communities.”

Source: (1998) In Support for crime victims in a comparative perspective, ed. Ezzat Fattah and Tony Peters, 169-187. A collection of essays dedicated to the memory of Prof. Frederic McClintock. With a preface by Ezzat Fattah and Tony Peters. Leuven, Belgium: Leuven University Press.

Griffiths and Belleau focus on the resurgence of traditional aboriginal law and justice as the basis for the increased involvement of aboriginal communities in Canada in the development of criminal justice programs and services. These programs and services provide alternatives to Euro-Canadian criminal justice – alternatives that respond better to victims as well as to offenders and communities. Many aboriginal people claim that, in a fundamental conflict of beliefs and values between Euro-Canadian culture and aboriginal culture, Euro-Canadian criminal justice does not adequately address the views and needs of aboriginal victims, offenders, and their communities. Through statistics, comparisons of basic beliefs and values, and descriptions of specific programs, Griffiths and Belleau characterize Euro-Canadian law and justice as retributive, and aboriginal law and justice as restorative. The authors contend that aboriginal initiatives hold great promise for reducing the high levels of conflict with the law experienced by aboriginal peoples in Canada. Griffiths and Belleau also propose that such initiatives may serve as models for non-aboriginal justice systems, agencies, and communities as they search for effective responses to crime.