DOI: 10.3886/icpsr38825.v1
title: Tribal Justice, Tribal Court: Strengthening Tribal Justice Systems Using Restorative Approaches, South Dakota, 2022
title: Version 1

description: The purpose of this project was to develop a culturally relevant crime seriousness index specific to the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate (SWO) tribe while working closely with community partners. Informal background interviews with key stakeholders provided a foundation on traditional crime management by the community. These interviews informed the creation of an SWO-specific adaptation of the Sellin-Wolfgang crime seriousness index following an online survey conducted in 2022 with SWO community members (n=44 completed surveys).
Aggregated survey data have been released as a zipped package as it was received by ICPSR. Please refer to the study documentation for details on the index items and instructions on how to obtain the raw research data. The Final Report released by NIJ contains the full SRO crime seriousness index as Appendix D.
description: The original purpose of the project was to answer when and how restorative interventions are offered by tribal court judges, with the goal being to understand how communities perceive certain criminal actions and whether this impacts the use of restorative justice. The revised goal of the project was to develop a tribal-specific crime seriousness index, using the Sellin-Wolfgang index as a foundation.
description: The original research design for this project was a community-based participatory venture between the research team and the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate (SWO) Tribal Court to create a culturally-appropriate crime seriousness matrix (developed internally by tribal court and government employees), apply it to a sampling of tribal court dispositions, and conduct a qualitative analysis to determine when restorative justice measures were applied by the court. However, due to external constraints imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic and tribe personnel changes, the design was reconceptualized to focus on creating the crime seriousness index and identifying divergences with the original Sellins-Wolfgang results.
To first determine the methods used to develop a crime seriousness index, the researchers conducted a scoping review of the existing literature. Following review and discussion with tribal legal scholars, the researchers developed a survey including the original 14 main events of the Sellin-Wolfgang study, modifying dollar amounts presented based on inflation and regional area and adding items specifying that the offender was intoxicated. Informal interviews with 2 tribal elders were also done to help inform the project and data interpretations. Interviews were not recorded or transcribed.
An online Qualtrics survey was administered to SWO citizens in June 2022 (n=44 completed). The survey was disseminated through SWO Tribal Council members and other research partners, who shared it with others in their district. Responses were aggregated as mean values for each index item. Based on the survey, an SWO-specific crime seriousness index was developed. Results were compared to the original Sellin-Wolfgang results using descriptive statistics.
description: Baseline items in the survey asked respondents to rate 1 to 10 (1=very little, 10=an expert) their level of knowledge of appropriate behavior in the past and the present according to tribal culture, and to choose what functions were more important within tribal court proceedings (e.g., getting to the truth vs. determining fault, punishing the offender vs. restoring the victim).
For crime seriousness items, respondents rated each item 1 to 10 (1=very minor, 10=very serious) a series of criminal events. Examples include theft, breaking and entering, vandalism, assault, reckless driving, rape, drug use, drug sales, making false statements, and truancy.
description: Not applicable.
description: Response Rates: Not available.
description: Presence of Common Scales: Modified version of the Sellin-Wolfgang crime seriousness index (1964)
description: A purposive sample of adult Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate citizens who, at the time of the study, resided on or had previously resided on the Lake Traverse Reservation were recruited and enrolled in the study.
description: Datasets: 
DS1: Tribal Justice, Tribal Court: Strengthening Tribal Justice Systems Using Restorative Approaches, South Dakota, 2022
description: Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate citizens. Smallest Geographic Unit: None
description: web-based surveyIn accordance with Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Tribal Code of Law Chapter 77, Title 4, Section 1, raw data will be housed at the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Research Office. To request access to this data contact: Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Research Office, P.O. Box 509, Agency Village, SD 57262 or call (605) 698-8411 for more information.