Rebuilding Connections and Victim Empathy through a Restorative Justice Prison Program in California (PID062)

3.45pm – 4.15pm NZDT, 3 March 2026 ‐ 30 mins

Parallel Workshops

Although not a pre-condition for making amends in criminal harm, apology remains a common experience of most restorative justice processes. If genuinely experienced, apology or forgiveness can provide healing and sense of closure for the victim, plus expression of accountability and victim empathy by the offender. The process of creating a path for an incarcerated person’s behavioral or attitudinal change requires careful application of key restorative justice principles both in program design and application. This paper discusses a restorative justice informed program in a California prison and its impact on the participants for their individual growth and development, victim empathy, interactions with other incarcerated persons and correctional staff.

Speakers

Prof. Alexa Sardina

Associate Professor, California State University, Sacramento, United States

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Prof. Ernest Uwazie

Professor, California State University, Sacramento, United States

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Prof. Alexa Sardina

Associate Professor, California State University, Sacramento, United States

Alexa Sardina, PhD is an Associate Professor and Graduate Program Coordinator at California State University, Sacramento in the Division of Criminal Justice. She holds a PhD in Criminology from Indiana University and a Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice from Boston University. Dr. Sardina recently won the Outstanding Faculty Award for Teaching at CSUS. She is also a co-founder of Ampersands Restorative Justice and co-hosts the popular podcast Beyond Fear: The Sex Crimes Podcast. She is a ‘survivor scholar’ and uses her experience as a rape survivor and her scholarly expertise on sexual harm to offer a critical perspective within the broader field of criminology and restorative practices.

Dr. Sardina has published several papers on topics related to restorative justice. Additionally, she has presented her original research on various topics related to sexual harm and restorative justice at over 30 academic conferences across the United States and internationally. Dr. Sardina is a sought-after content expert on topics related to the implementation of restorative justice processes for sexual harm and has advised community non-profits, as well as state and federal criminal justice agencies. In her role as the Center for African Peace and Conflict Resolution VOD/Restorative Justice Program Co-Director, she has also trained community members, students, and others on how to facilitate restorative processes. Additionally, Dr. Sardina has facilitated restorative processes for survivors and surviving family members of other acts of extreme violence, including murder and attempted murder.

Prof. Ernest Uwazie

Professor, California State University, Sacramento, United States

Ernest E. Uwazie holds both the BA and MA in Criminal Justice from St Edward's University, Austin, Texas, and a Ph.D. degree in Justice Studies from Arizona State University with a specialization in comparative justice and conflict resolution. He is a graduate of the Negotiation and Mediation programs of the Harvard Law School. He is a Professor & immediate past Chair (2017-2023) of Criminal Justice, and Director/Founder of the Center for African Peace & Conflict Resolution(CAPCR) at California State University, Sacramento, USA. He is a renowned Alternative Dispute Resolution mediation trainer, practitioner, scholar and system designer. Prof. Uwazie has served as project director and Principal Investigator of numerous projects funded by the US Dept. of State and US Institute of Peace on Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in Africa, 4 US Dept. of Education Fulbright-Hays Groups Projects Abroad (GPA) programs on peace and development in Uganda (2002), cultural heritage and modernization in Ghana (2001) and Nigeria (1993), and ethnicity and national reconciliation in post-genocide Rwanda (2004). He has served as a project reviewer for the US Dept. of Education Fulbright-Hays Groups Project Abroad program, the World Bank ADR project in Nigeria, and the US Institute of Peace and Conflict Resolution programs in Nigeria, Liberia, and Ghana. He has received, directed and administered over US $12 million- dollar grant and contracts projects in Africa and US from 1993 to present. He is also developing a new CAPCR initiative: Africa Peace Fellows-for building the next generation of peace leaders in Africa.