Programme Shows Perpetrators Facing Victims and Families |TODAY|

Submitted by dan. on 2007-08-23 21:46.
Public Education

Eileen Littig, who co-produced the show with Dean Thomas, says a powerful moment she witnessed was between Jessica, a teen who went along with her boyfriend 's brother on a robbery that turned into murder, and the victim 's sister. "Both had photos to share, " Littig says. "There were faces. There were families."

In the documentary, the sister reviews details of the stabbing with Jessica: "If you can remember anything from that day, tell me. " After listening to Jessica talk about how she, then age 14, felt like she was out of her own body, the sister says: "I would like to say I forgive you, but at this point I still can 't do that. ... There might be some day I can, but it 's not today. "

The documentary does, however, include stories of victims and their loved ones who have forgiven, including BeBeau. Widowed with two children, BeBeau was angry with her husband 's killer and the legal system until one night while saying the Lord 's Prayer, she felt a very personal message through the line "Forgive those who trespass against us. "

"Surely, God, you cannot mean this, " she recalls thinking.

Although she did not have a victim-offender meeting with her husband 's killer, who committed suicide in prison, she has become an advocate for restorative justice, including through visits to prisons to tell her story of kissing her husband goodbye forever in a hospital emergency room. She serves as a sort of surrogate for families of other victims, demonstrating the pain and suffering caused by perpetrators ' actions.

"You really don 't want to think about the pain you 've caused, " BeBeau tells them. She makes them.

Among the prisoners filmed, one reads a poem of remorse with tears running down his cheeks.

Read it all. For information about purchase or rental of the video, contact Northeastern Wisconsin In-School Telecommunications, newist@uwgb.edu.