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20 ACUMEN • SPRING 2021 Repairing Damage Through Restorative Justice DAWN THREN ’ 2 1 P Sarah Heidebrink-Bruno ’13G ’21G examines the intersection of healing and literature D eveloped over centuries, the punitive justice system is the expected recourse for having convicted criminals pay restitution for their crimes. In many cases, the court sentencing may not bring closure to the victim or prevent the perpe- trator from repeating the offense. Restorative justice is an addendum or alternative approach that brings together the offender and the victim with a facilitator to have healing conversations that lead to repairing the inf licted harm. English doctoral student Sarah Heidebrink-Bruno ’13G ’21G is focusing her research and dissertation on the intersection of restorative justice and literature, most notably women’s literature written in the post-World War II era, as a way to envision transformative communities. “Restorative justice is a different way to respond to a harm that has happened,” says Heidebrink-Bruno, who specializes in post-1945 American fiction and inter- sectional feminist theory. “Hopefully, the goal is that the person who committed the harm, the perpetrator, would learn that their actions have these really signifi- cant consequences and ripple effects. It helps build this environment where this harm does not occur again.” In her dissertation, she draws from restorative justice examples woven into the story threads of Alice Walker’s The Color Purple and Marge Piercy’s Woman on the Edge of Time . Heidebrink-Bruno explores how restorative practices in these women’s novels can alleviate harm done, increase accountability, restore community and imagine a more productive future together. “If we were not just concerned with justice as a form of revenge or justice as a form of punishment, what would that alternative community look like?” says Heidebrink-Bruno, who earned a Master of Arts in English from Lehigh in 2013 and a Bachelor of Arts in English, women’s studies and Africana studies from Albright College. In the Pulitzer Prize- winning novel The Color Purple , Celie was continually abused by her husband and divorces him. Through a series of interactions and learning about the impact that his actions had on those in his community, the reader sees him feeling remorse and transitioning toward becoming a better person. By the end of the novel, Celie and her ex-husband have gone through a healing and restorative process. The story line is an example of restorative justice happening not through the court system, but in an internal space that helped fix their personal community. MICHAEL GLENWOOD GIBBS / THEISPOT.COM