ing place wherever the group wants. They do have the members of most courtrooms with a judge, probation officer, court recorder, and community members along with the victim and their family. Since the processes are so community orientated, the actual process of the circle will vary (Roberts, 1996, p.70.) During traditional settings, prayer at the beginning of the sentence will occur, along with some sort of sacred object, which is usually a feather that members pass to one another as a talking stick. This gives the person holding the feather the power to say what they feel, and give the process a sense of organization, and most importantly, it prevents one-on-one confrontations (Ulrich, 1999, p.425).What problems occur with the implementation of aboriginal circles?When looking at the current criminal justice system in Canada, New Zealand, and Australia, it is clear that it has failed in the treatment of aboriginal people. This problem has strengthened the idea of restorative justice as a replacement of the traditional system. When looking at implementing circles into that realm of restorative justice, there needs to be an agreement that their practices are diverse, and therefore not to force the issue. Many traditional practices are very spiritually based, and it needs to be evident that the process of healing is not distorted over this change. In most situations, the idea of creating a community will be the goal rather then reintegration. An example of this was given in a probation officer feeling the sentence of 18 months in prison, was too little from the group. The key that they were looking at was at the idea of healing, and not so much in punishment (Roach, 2000, p.263). We then have to look at the despairing differences between practices of tradition and our American proceedings. The key is that Native Americans do not fare worse in these processes based on the matter at hand being borrowed and used under our current...
