How the Aviation Industry Inspires Meaningful Accountability

Recently, an article entitled “Why You’ve Never Been in a Plane Crash” (by Kyra Dempsey) grabbed my attention in my daily inbox scan. While I was first drawn in by my own personal curiosity (“and I never will be in a plane crash, right???”), I devoured the entire article because of how the article connected […]

Restorative Leadership for a New Paradigm: Reflections from the Field

What does it look like for leaders to embody the work of restorative justice, in an effort to affect change within systems? How do we ensure that “how” we show up to create change is aligned with ‘what’ we are trying to shift? Can we generate buy-in, inspire action, and transform organizational culture by modeling […]

The Promise and Perils of Standards: Spotlight on our 2018 Webinar

How can restorative justice services be reliably safe and accountable to our own principles? While for some, creating “standards” in restorative justice seems like an effective path forward to ensuring good practice, concepts of “standards” and “standardization” are tricky! These terms bring up important issues of hierarchy, power, privilege, and worldview. Who sets the standards, […]

Crime Victims’ Experiences of Restorative Justice: A Listening Project

Three years ago, Just Outcomes traveled across Canada to listen to victims’ and survivors’ experiences with restorative justice. These included the voices of those suffering from property crime to the impact of homicide, from grieving family members to Indigenous youth. This project was funded through the Department of Justice, Canada—Centre for Policy on Victims Issues. […]

The Culture of Restorative Justice (The Cultures United Podcast)

In October 2021, I was nervous, thrilled and honored to be invited to share on the “The Cultures United Podcast”.  I was in dialogue with Jemma and Mista B—two individuals with diverse experiences who had a ton of great questions about restorative justice.  Some of those questions included: How are your values and beliefs around […]

Establishing Community-System Partnerships

Across North America, there has been a recent and significant push to expand access to restorative justice processes for justice system-involved community members. In Oregon, the aim has been to provide true diversion (limited system involvement and community-based) for more serious and violent crimes. This expansion has also cultivated a push for stronger and more […]

Serving Crime Victims Through Restorative Justice

Serving Crime Victims Through Restorative Justice: A Resource Guide for Leaders and Practitioners

This practical guide created for restorative justice leaders and practitioners has been one of the most wide-reaching projects Just Outcomes has had the opportunity to lead. Funded by the Government of Canada and commissioned by the Alberta Restorative Justice Association, this Guide provides research to back up the practical navigation skills for how to align […]

Cutting Edge Developments in Restorative Justice in Vancouver BC

We are so happy to share an article that highlights Catherine Bargen and Aaron Lyons’ work in partnership with Peace of the Circle! Together the team has been exploring the benefits and strengths of restorative justice, and are looking ahead to how it can influence, inform, and complement Vancouver’s justice system. This article speaks to […]

Bullying and Building a Restorative Culture

Whether in our roles as parents, co-workers, employees, or teachers, many of us are affected by bullying behavior. How do we, as bystanders and supporters, be of help in these situations – and might we set the conditions in motion that make bullying less likely in the first place? Last week, I was at the […]

Restorative Justice and Sexualized Violence – New Conversations Emerging

Last month, I attended the Ending Violence Association of British Columbia’s (EVA BC’s) annual forum, “Supporting Survivors Across the Years.” I have worked alongside the Victim Services sector for almost a decade, so there were many familiar faces. But the conversations have changed. When I introduce myself, saying, “Hi, I’m Catherine and a lot of […]