Our work seeks to prevent, repair, and move beyond harm for all those impacted by crime. Our newsletter Quaker Concern comes out three times a year sharing stories from our criminal justice work and how we’re making a difference.
Canadian Quakers believe that justice must be compassionate and focus on how to heal rather than how to punish. This is what’s called “penal abolition”—working to put an end to punishment and harm throughout the criminal justice system. This is the ground from which our methods, processes, and partnerships emerge.
A particular focus for our criminal justice work is on children and youth. Policing and imprisonment regularly harm children and youth directly or indirectly. They’re particularly vulnerable when they enter the justice system, but are also collateral victims when their parents are arrested or imprisoned.
Children are often ignored in the process of a parent’s arrest, remand, sentencing, and imprisonment, yet they experience a range of psychological, social, and economic hardships. Many challenges are faced by children who are born into or living in prison with a parent, as well as children who are left on the outside.
In late 2017, three friends and I rented a car and drove out to Six Nations, about an hour and a half from Toronto. We were going to see the Walking with our Sisters exhibition, a commemorative art exhibition made up of nearly 2,000 pairs of moccasin vamps (tops) donated by Indigenous communities around Turtle…
Children are humans. They have human rights. On the international stage, Canada has agreed to uphold these human rights. Yet we are concerned that Canada is not currently protecting children’s rights with integrity. A major focus of CFSC’s work is the human rights of children whose parents have been incarcerated. CFSC works to promote…
When a parent (or a person with parental responsibilities) is arrested, sentenced, or imprisoned, it can have a profound and lasting impact on their children. A standard measure of childhood trauma that psychologists use is called the Adverse Childhood Experiences score. One of the ten questions used to calculate this score is, “Did a household…
Imagine being put on the street in the winter wearing a t-shirt and shorts or wearing a jumpsuit, with flip flops on your feet. People are watching you. You don’t have your ID and you have no family or friends to pick you up. Your valuables are back at the jail, and it’s now late…
The number of older offenders (those aged 50+) incarcerated in Canadian prisons is on the rise. It has now exceeded 25% of the people in our federal institutions. Together with this come new realities of deteriorating mental and physical health. Walkers and wheelchairs are common sights. Dementia and Alzheimer’s present new challenges to prison staff.…
I wake up. It’s 4:30 AM. At first I notice the silence. It’s quiet now. Earlier in the night it was noisy. The jail cells were purposely constructed with rounded ceilings so that sound would travel. This lets the guards hear what goes on in the cells. I assume that is why I could hear…
“Violence begets violence. We know that a child experiencing abuse is more likely to see violence as normal, even acceptable… and more likely to perpetuate violence against his or her own children in the future.” – UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake1 Children are persons in formation. As such, they continually challenge parents as they…
It’s been over 35 years since Canadian Quakers approved a Minute on abolishing prisons, reflecting that “the prison system is both a cause and a result of violence and social injustice,” while recognising a “need for [compassionate] restraint of those few who are exhibiting dangerous behaviour.”1 This concept remains shockingly radical in mainstream society. A…
The first recommendation of the Coroner’s Inquest into the death of Ashley Smith was: “That Ashley Smith’s experience within the correctional system is taught as a case study to all Correctional Service of Canada management and staff at the institutional, regional and national levels. This case study can demonstrate how the correctional system and…
Scroll down for a list of all articles about Canadian Friends Service Committee’s criminal justice work.