Gumboot Productions has been invited to collaborate with the Centre for Studies in Religion and Society at the University of Victoria in the creation of a Summer Institute in 1998 entitled Spiritual Roots of Restorative Justice.
Continuing the focus of documentary work concerning healing and transformation, Gumboot Productions is currently researching a number of Restorative Justice initiatives in Canada, the USA and New Zealand.
Recognising that there is a crisis in the justice system, Gumboot Productions intends to document, in part through personal stories, ways in which restorative justice options have successfully achieved a 'satisfying justice' for both victims, their communities and offenders. This includes initiatives which manage to avoid the use of custody but include appropriate reparative elements and those that reduce the length of custody by alleviating the enforcement of lengthy prison terms.
"....continuing to do business in the same way will
inexorably lead to further crowding and degraded
prison conditions, program effectiveness and security
measures ... The current strategy of heavy and
undifferentiated reliance on incarceration as the primary
means of responding to crime is not the most effective
response in many cases, and is financially unsustainable."
Rethinking Corrections.
Discussion paper
Corrections Review Group, 1995
Government of Canada
If your interested in learning more about this project please email us at: gumboot@pinc.com