Analysis Of Touching Spirit Bear By Ben Mikaelsen

Circle Justice is a Native American form of justice, that seeks to heal instead of the regular punishment ways. In it volunteers from around the community help sentence offenders and help them lead better lives and live better. As portrayed in the novel "Touching Spirit Bear" by Ben Mikaelsen. Another name for this type of justice is restorative justice. Although it originated in Canada, it is mostly practiced in some Midwestern states found in the United States, but mostly Minnesota.

Circle Justice focuses on healing the offender, victim, and community whereas other various justice forms focus on punishing the offender. Some of the goals of Circle Justice include:

Promoting healing for all affected parties.

Providing an opportunity for the

He is with two men, Edwin and Garvey, who are instructing him on the terms of his banishment to the island. After the first few chapters we learn through anecdotes why Cole was sent to the island.Cole had viciously beat a classmate of his named Peter Driscal, after Peter snitches on him. Peter suffers from various problems as a result of Cole’s attack. Which only adds to Cole’s previous history with the law. Cole is given the option by an officer named Garvey to either be tried as an adult and sent to prison, or to path of Circle Justice to avoid prison. Cole agrees to later as he does not want to go to jail. A series of “Circles” meet in order to decide Cole’s sentence. The Circle, consisted of Garvey, Cole’s parents, Peter, Peter’s parents, and other members of the community who volunteered to be there. At the meetings it is revealed that Cole’s father is an alcoholic and is physically abusive to Cole. The Circle decides that by banishing Cole to a remote Alaskan island, they can teach Cole a lesson and protect others from him without sending him to jail, per Garvey’s request. Garvey tells Cole of a pure white black bear which is called the Spirit Bear. When Cole arrives on the island, he is angered by the way that all the adults are treating him and fights back by making his banishment look as if it were all a game to him. After Edwin