Hawthorne 2 Bilingual Alternative

This is the story about alternative ways to deal with crime in the community, brought to us via the Mennonite Central Committee.

Victim of egg attack befriends offenders

Gladys Terichow
October 31, 2007

CALGARY, Alta. —Earlier this year a Calgary youth threw an egg at a convenience store clerk who was working the night shift. His friend recorded the incident with a video camera.

Their plans to submit this video to the popular video sharing website, YouTube, ended abruptly with an arrest. A bystander had called the police when he saw the young men, ages 16 and 17, covering their faces in the parking lot before entering the store. The boys were arrested in the parking lot and faced charges of assault with a weapon.

The unsuspecting victim of this prank, Zenebe Gebrewold said his initial reaction was anger and thoughts of revenge.

But after meeting the young offenders and hearing them express genuine remorse for their actions he told them, “We weren’t enemies before this happened—we don’t have to be enemies now.”

One of the youth returned to the store just a few weeks ago to have his girlfriend meet Gebrewold.

This face-to-face meeting between the young offenders, their parents and Gebrewold was facilitated by the Calgary Community Conferencing, a restorative justice program started in 1998 and supported by MCC Alberta, Calgary Youth Probation Services, Calgary Board of Education, City of Calgary, Calgary Family Services and the John Howard Society.

The goal of community conferencing is to reduce youth crime through helping young people acknowledge and address the consequences of harmful behaviour, said conference facilitator Darrel Heidebrecht, who also represents MCC Alberta in this program.

A conference is a structured process that gives victims of crime or harmful actions the opportunity to ask questions—an opportunity not available under the centuries old retributive model of justice where offenders are passive and victims largely ignored.

“We don’t do conferences without victims—without the participation of victims there is no point to it,” said Heidebrecht, adding conferences take place in churches, schools or community centres in neighbourhoods where victims work or live.

“This is getting tough on crime—we are asking kids to do things that are way more challenging then facing a judge in a courtroom,” he added.

“Victims typically have a lot of questions and we try to help young people answer these questions. We want this to be a positive learning experience for kids but we also want them to take full responsibility for their actions. Our program is a grassroots attempt to resolve conflict in a meaningful way.”

The conference concludes with offenders developing an agreement or action plan that addresses the needs and concerns of victims. “We work towards a youth initiated agreement —what do they think they should do to repair the harm,” explained Heidebrecht. “Some things can’t be undone but they still need to be addressed.”

Action plans suggested by offenders are usually creative and effective, said Heidebrecht. The action plan developed by the offenders during this conference was that they would meet Gebrewold in a restaurant for coffee; a meeting to help see Gebrewold as a person, and not just a store clerk.

When the youth appeared in youth court a few months later the impact of the conference was taken into consideration by the judge who sentenced them to a period of probation, with the conditions including their offer to meet with the victim for coffee.

Gebrewold said he wanted to participate in the conference because “I was curious to hear why the boys decided to do this.” He was surprised to learn that the motivation for this offense was a few minutes of fame on You Tube.

Gebrewold, a teacher in Ethiopia, moved to Canada three years ago. When the youth met him for coffee he had talked about his experiences in Ethiopia and told the boys how fortunate they are that they live in Canada. “They have so many opportunities in Canada in comparison to what young people have in Africa. I asked them why they were doing this unnecessary stuff,” he recalled.

MCC’s long history of involvement in alternative justice programs helps him bring valuable resources and insights to the Calgary Community Conferencing, a program often cited “as an excellent example of organizations working together to make this city a better place to live,” said Heidebrecht.

“We can be more effective when we work together,” said Heidebrecht, noting the program is developing a strong network of community partners through using churches, schools and community centres for interviews and meetings.

Gladys Terichow is a writer for MCC.