Date of Project

5-8-2021

Document Type

Honors Thesis

School Name

College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Sociology

Major Advisor

Dr. Heather Pruss

Second Advisor

Dr. Elizabeth Dinkins

Third Advisor

Dr. Leslie Maxie

Abstract

Legislative activity and public opinion polling, among other indicators, suggests there is growing support for change in how our justice system functions. As the country begins to look for other tools and more knowledge of different practices, a key challenge will be bridging the gap between the public’s general support for a new path moving forward and a clear picture of what that path could look like. The goal of this project was to help propel this movement toward exploring justice alternatives forward by making this knowledge accessible and persuasive. As such, this project involved the creation of a material presentation that was used to introduce the principles, practice, and potential of restorative justice, an alternative approach to addressing harm that involves the people who harm agreeing to take accountability for their behavior then offering amends to the persons who were harmed by their behavior, to a generalist audience – in this case, to an audience of first-year undergraduates. The presentation consisted of a PowerPoint Presentation, video example, and discussion aspect. To measure the effectiveness of this, pre and post tests were implemented as a quantitative measure and quotes were pulled from the discussion aspect as a qualitative measure. Findings suggest that participants saw the potential of restorative justice and began to engage with this philosophy.

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