Synopsis of Experience

Synopsis of Experience

Name:

Institution:

Synopsis of Experience

The court writer begins his diary on July 2, 2013 and ends shortly after July 31, 2013. It describes the daily activities of criminal justice system. Criminal justice is the system of practices and institutions of governments directed at upholding social control, deterring and mitigating crime. The court writer has many obligations, but in the main areas of Elizabeth Fry Society, youth and children services and attendance centers, they are practical. He attends a referral to the Just-Us Girls program. The program aims at mentoring troubled young mothers struggling in the justice system. Just-Us Girls is a sharing program where young mothers meet with community volunteers and discuss the predicaments they face. He is involved in listening to the young mother’s side of the story and preparing a report for the judge. He compiles the young mother’s dreams and aspirations, provides information about her support system, her relationship with the father of her children, her criminal history and mental-health issues. The writer will most importantly compile the young mother’s plan for rehabilitation, counseling and programming. The Just-Us program report helps mothers transform and become useful in their families, community and nation in general.

The Just-Us Girls is a program under the Elizabeth Fry Society court workers. The pivotal role of the EFry is to aspire, reunify and maintain families using a restorative justice approach. The young mother is responsible for the outcome in the voluntary process. The Elizabeth Fry Society advocates for the freedom of criminalized women through the provision of programs, supports and services by supporting them as they reunite with their families, community and most importantly their children. The court writer works hand in hand with the volunteers in the restorative committee. He trains the facilitators and coaches them through new tools in dealing with young mothers and high-risk youth involved in the justice system.

He is involved with matters of youth and law. The Youth Criminal Justice Act recognizes young people, age 12 to 17 to have different needs from adults. At this age, they are responsible for their actions and mostly refer to community-based programs. Restorative justice is an approach to integrity that focuses on the needs of victims, offenders and the community instead of punishing the offender. Victims take an active role in the process while offenders are encouraged to take responsibility of their actions by repairing the harm they have caused, as opposed to focusing on the broken law. The writer is a member of the center for restorative youth justice and attends court session to ensure the judge uses the system to convict the youth.

He is involved in writing probation for young offenders and working in conjunction with the probation officer. The writer also has the duty of talking to youth offenders who had been to court on particular occasions and making recommendations for those with whom he had previously worked. He is also responsible for reviewing reports for youth offenders and maintaining reports for all youth offenders. He is also responsible for child welfare services. He attends delegation training for child services and learns what matters to be included in the child welfare acts. He has the task of assessing children facing problems from home or their parents. A problem like FASD (Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders) is treated from the social programs, and the children are supported. He has the role of ensuring judges give fair treatment to all children and young people in their courtrooms. Correctional services given to the youth offenders should aim at transforming the youth into responsible members of the society and hindering them from breaking the law. He ensures that youth, through the opportunities given to them, make better choices, get education, learn important life skills and contribute to their community’s development.

He has a mandate of attending pre-sentencing and bail hearing reports while undergoing training for aboriginal offenders. Aboriginal offenders receive restorative justice under the Gladue principle when serious crimes are not involved. This incorporates community members and the victim in getting a fair trial. The writer also receives training on how to deal with aboriginal clients. A look into their background and history creates a legal framework on their rights. Aboriginal people are the indigenous and the earliest natives of Australia. These people have a higher likelihood to be in jail than non-indigenous people do. Aboriginal admissions to youth custody facilities are on the increase, given that those with a prior young offender record are more apt to receive sentences of imprisonment if convicted as adults (McNab & Lischke, 2005). The writer can only expect the chance of incarceration for aboriginal adults to increase unless a drastic step to decrease the prevalence of aboriginal people within the prison system is embraced. Restorative form of system adoption among this section of the society is mandatory. A particular interest in the population is a good virtue. Being a selfless court writer is evident in this case and understanding of key areas like the Gladue report is proof of the realization of what is expected of him. Attendance of sessions in courtrooms enables him not to miss any proceedings and have a clear overview of all decisions.

Reference

McNab, D., & Lischke, U. (2005). Walking a tightrope: Aboriginal people and their representations. Waterloo, Ont: Wilfrid Laurier University Press.