Problem
After reading Touching Spirit Bear read Chapter 9 and Chapter 15 in the textbook, answer these questions
• Cole committed a violent crime - should he have been tried as an adult? The Circle Justice system works for Cole and allows him to reach a place of healing, eventually enabling him to help Peter as well. How might the outcome of Cole's story have been different if he'd been tried as an adult and gone to prison? What are the likely consequences for both the individual offender and society of trying juvenile offenders as adults? Explain.
• With Circle Justice, everything in life is connected. How do the actions of other characters in the book, (including Edwin, Garvey, Cole's parents, Peter, the Spirit Bear, Rosey, etc.), connect to Cole's crime and his eventual healing? Use specific examples. How could other people (friends, family, etc.) affect the actions (good and bad) of juvenile offenders in our system?
• Restorative justice includes the community and the victim in the process. Why should the community be included? Why should the victim be included? Is this punishment? Should the focus be on punishment, or on forgiveness, or on healing, or what? Why?
You must use the following:
a) Specific examples with quotes from the novel in every answer. Each example and quote must be followed by the page number where you found it.
b) Specific quotes from the textbook in at least two of your answers.