Mr. Guest is presently the Law Clerk of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation. The use of a restorative approach gives the offender the experiences of the victim. Only when the offender understands the full extent of the consequences of their actions will thoughts equivalent to a conscience enter into an offender's risk profit analysis. These aspects of teaching, inculcation, or brainwashing are important elements in the individual development of an internal moral code. The intensification of an external legal code cannot reduce crime to the same extent that a self-policing moral code can.
Teaching is the distinguishing point between defining a person acting badly and a bad actor.
Whether it be in the Aboriginal or non-Aboriginal community, a person may act upon false presumptions in new situations and disturb the ethos of the community. The distinguishing point, in how these two distinct communities would dispose of this type of case is stark. The mistake would be recognized within the Aboriginal community. The lack of knowledge shown by the victimizer would be addressed and reparations would be made. Within the existing criminal justice system there is no middle ground between guilty and not guilty.