Restorative Justice

In the popular imagination, prison is a dark hole from which few exit.

In reality, only 4 percent—or 514 individuals—of the 14,000 people serving sentences in Washington state’s 11 prisons are serving life sentences without the possibility of early release. In fact, the average stay in the state’s prison system is just under 31 months.

Since 1986, Jacqueline Helfgott, PhD, Loyola Professor of Criminal Justice, Criminology & Forensics and Director of the Crime & Justice Research Center, has been visiting prisons and working with inmates—first as a student herself—to lead programs for art, restorative justice and academic research.

In her years of experience working with students and incarcerated populations, one thing about prison has stood out to her: “It’s always been striking to me how many people really think that somebody commits a crime and then we don't have to deal with them anymore,” she says. “The ‘us vs. them’ mentality is just a convenient fiction that gets in the way of constructive change for everybody.” 

Dr. Helfgott will discuss “How Prison Education Restores Justice” as the featured speaker at the Winter Red Talk, 12:30–1:30 p.m., Tuesday, Feb, 24 in Pigott Auditorium. The Office of Diversity and Inclusion sponsors the quarterly talk.

Over the years Dr. Helfgott has led students on numerous prison visits, meeting with inmates and conducting research. Now with SU joining the Jesuit Prison Education Network and a $39,000 grant from Raskob Foundation for Catholic Activities, she and other SU professors will be conducting a feasibility study on establishing a four-year degree program in social and behavioral sciences at the Monroe Correctional Complex.

Visiting prisons provides invaluable insights for students working toward careers in social work, law, psychology, art therapy and education, in addition to working in corrections or law enforcement.

It also helps move society toward a greater understanding of justice, something Dr. Helfgott has learned from working with survivors and family members of victims of violent crime.

Seattle University is in the best position, with its Jesuit mission of educating leaders for a just and humane world, to give back to the community in this way, she says.

“A lot of the victims and family members of people who have been murdered say that they wanted to know that people were doing constructive things while in prison,” Dr. Helfgott says. “If nothing else, that would be something that would repair some of the harm and restore justice.”