Educational Media Reviews Online

Facing the Demons documents a "restorative justice" event that culminated in a "conference" between the victims of a crime and some of the criminals. Restorative justice is process in which both the victims and perpetrators of a crime try to work together to "come together to resolve collectively how to deal with the aftermath of the offense and its implications for the future." The concept has been talked about perhaps since the early 1970s and used in New Zealand and Australia for the past decade; interest also been shown in the United States and Canada. It has tended to be used primarily, but not exclusively, in youth offender programs. Most programs are voluntary.

That having been said, Facing the Demons, is a powerful and deeply moving short film, which at some points is almost painful to watch. This is distinctly not your average "training film." The crime that was committed was the murder of a talented and well liked South New Wales university student during the robbery of pizza shop. Because of the brutality of the crime-the student was killed at almost point blank range with a shotgun-as well as what seems to be the gentleness and good nature of the victim, the emotions shown during the film run very, very high. Although the murder took place almost four years prior to the making of the film and the restorative justice conference, both the victims of the crime and perpetrators are still in deep pain. The film exposes that pain with almost pin point clarity making it very difficult to watch. The actual conference takes up only about a quarter of the film. Much of it is devoted to very effectively revealing the background of the crime, the victim, his friends and his parents. The huge impact the crime has on these people is depicted clearly and graphically.

The video has excellent technical qualities. The very strong accent of some of the speakers may be hard for some US audiences to understand, although after a few minutes many people will be able to adjust. The video would be especially valuable for training purposes in any setting where the "restorative justice" concept is being practiced and/or taught. In addition, any library or information facility that serves a criminal justice program or a jurisdiction that is thinking about implementing such a program would find the video very valuable. Some law schools may wish to use the video as a supplement to written materials. Because of the very emotional nature of the video it may be best to view it in segments when used in a training or teaching setting. Very, very highly recommended. However, as noted, this is not a how-to-do-it or scholarly film about restorative justice but rather a very vivid rendering of the complexities and pain flowing out a real life crime when put through the lens of a restorative justice effort.

Additional information about restorative justice can be found at http://www.restorativejustice.org/; that same site also has an extensive bibliography. Additional videos can be found at http://ssw.che.umn.edu/rjp/Resources/Videos.htm and http://ssw.che.umn.edu/rjp/Resources/New%20Videos.htm.