Usually vandalism is random and the perpetrators are not identified. This victim is pretty sure of who did this crime. I feel bad for her, knowing every time she walks up to her car she will be reminded of what harm was caused.
Then I think of this being expressed to the young vandals. Would they get that? Would their hearts soften to realize what they have done? Would a restorative process — where they get to explain what happened, what they were thinking, and how they think it can be made right — really bring a repairing? How do we, as a community, hold young people accountable to this in a way that would really make a meaningful change?
This is my day job, this is what I do all the time. I write grants, I bring people to the table, I believe in my heart in this process. I'm still feeling retributive.
I realize, as many victims do, my control of the situation is in my view and relationship to what happened. I can't control the actions they took, but I control my own.
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