Heather Ukaonu ’22 (left) and Maggie Pfeffer ’21 (right) conducted research this summer with Dr. Michelle Lelwica, professor of religion, focused on a compassionate approach to juvenile justice. The research was funded by a Concordia Centennial Research Grant.
Lelwica said the project essentially asks: “What does ‘justice’ mean when the teenagers entangled in the system have already been so violated by the circumstances of their lives? Is punishment the most effective response to justice-involved youth? Is it the most ethical and just? And how might compassion and mutual accountability be crucial components of justice and healing?”
The trio did a vast amount of research on how the juvenile justice system works and how youth are affected by it – is it helpful or not?
“It's a tricky question,” Ukaonu said, “so we spent time with youth at the West Central Regional Juvenile Center (WCRJC) in Moorhead to gain firsthand knowledge on what youth think about the current justice system, as well as how they respond to a more compassionate approach constructed by Dr. Lelwica.”
The three researchers met with a group of 12 youth twice a week and got to know them. Their work centered on three activities: mindfulness practices – primarily meditation and yoga, book discussions, and a creative writing workshop.
“The ‘Compassionate Justice’ research project emerged from a sense of responsibility I feel to better understand the young peoples’ lives, to examine the systems in which they are caught, and to explore alternatives that might foster compassionate justice and healing – one that takes seriously the layers of suffering surrounding the lives of at-risk youth,” said Lelwica, who started visiting the WCRJC in January 2018.
Lelwica was grateful to the young people who took part in the project and has high praise for her research partners.
“My students are very articulate and passionate about our study of the juvenile justice system and are exceptionally wonderful Cobber role models,” Lelwica said.
In the course of the research, some of what they found was that compassion and accountability are not mutually exclusive but, in fact, need each other.
“Young people are more motivated to stop blaming others when they are not worried about being harshly judged or punished for what they did,” Lelwica said. “And they are more inclined to take responsibility for their harmful actions if the painful circumstances that contributed to those actions are acknowledged.”
Ukaonu said the project fueled her passion to work with at-risk youth. She plans to return to WCRJC to visit and work with the youth she spent the summer with, continue to research approaches to juvenile justice that are constructive and compassionate, and spread awareness about the issue.
“During our time, we saw a caring, strong, intelligent side of the youth that many people don't normally see,” Ukaonu added. “Every youth in the detention center has the potential to be successful if given extra attention by those who really want them to succeed. They need more mentors and their families need more professionals who will help the family get on the right track.”
Pfeffer shared a letter with the youth group on the last day. In it, she said, “I came here to learn. I thought I was going to learn about the juvenile justice system. I thought I came with something to offer, but from the very first day I realized I was going to learn a whole lot more than I initially anticipated.”
Pfeffer said she learned what it means to be brave, honest, strong, and that life isn’t easy. And that sometimes it’s OK to be silent, that many times it is harder to choose silence, but there is such power in listening.
Read more from Dr. Lelwica about the program here.