Brenda Morrison

Associate Professor

School of Criminology

Brenda Morrison

Associate Professor

School of Criminology

brendam@sfu.ca
1 778 782-7627
Saywell Hall 10217

Areas of interest

Social regulation; civil society; social identity, self-interest and interdependence; compliance and deviance; reason, emotion and behavior; restorative justice, particularly in the context of institutional reform and culture change.

Biography

Brenda Morrison is the Director of the Centre for Restorative Justice and an Associate Professor in the School of Criminology. She is a social psychologist with teaching, research and field experience in outdoor education, governance and justice. She completed her PhD at the Australian National University. Following her PhD, she worked at a Post-Doc with the Regulatory Institutions Network, at the Centre for Restorative Justice. For three years she led a juvenile justice research and development project at the University of Pennsylvania in partnership with a range of justice, human services and school-based institutions. Internationally, she has presented papers at the House of Lords and UNESCO. Nationally, she is a research partner with PREVNet (Promoting Relationships Eliminating Violence Network), Children’s Rights Academic Network and serves on the Board of Smart Justice Canada. She has also served on justice reform committees for the Ministry of Justice. In British Columbia, she has served on the Ministry of Justice Performance Review Committee, and the working group summits for a Justice System for the 21st Century. In her home community, she is an active board member for the North Shore Restorative Justice Society.

Current Research: Restorative Justice, Justice System Reform, Justice and the Arts, Restorative Justice in Education

Dr. Morrison's research interests primarily focus on the praxis of justice, rights and identity in interpersonal, intra and intergroup contexts, and institutions. Her passion in these areas developed in personal, professional and scholarly contexts. Her work is interdisciplinary at the intersection of psychology, criminology, justice and education, using both science and arts-based methodologies.

Each year the CRJ supports a children’s rights initiative, Shaking the Movers, in partnership with the Landon Pearson Centre for Children’s Rights, producing a report that is reviewed by the Children’s Rights Academic Network.

Current projects include:

· An international research review of the praxis of restorative justice through the lens of community, police, courts, corrections and Indigenous rights and traditions;

· In collaboration with documentary film makers, Dr. Morrison is working with women with lived experience of the justice system to create two installations to build awareness and dialogue. This work bridges with a larger international project with incarnated women, who are increasingly disproportionately represented in our justice system.

· In collaboration with local school districts, Dr. Morrison is working on a large longitudinal research and development project to examine the impact of restorative justice in education on mental health and well-being.

Selected Publications

Morrison, B. E. & Riestenberg, N. (2019). Reflections on 20 years of restorative justice in schools. In Osher et al., (eds.), Keeping students safe and helping them thrive: A collaborative handbook for education, mental health, child welfare, safety, and justice professionals, families, and communities. CA: Praeger.

Morrison, B. E., Asadullah, M. & Pawlychka, C. (2020). Juvenile Justice and Restorative Justice in British Columbia: Learning through the lens of Community Praxis. In J. Winterdyk, K. Gorkoff, D. Antonowicz & R. Smandych (Eds.), Youth Justice: A Canadian Overview. Toronto: Oxford University Press.

Morrison, B.E., Woodland, S., Saunders, V., Barclay, L., Beetson, B. (in press). Weaving our Narratives: Amplifying the Social Echo of Restorative Justice through the Arts. In G. V. Martínez (Ed.), Art in prisons: talking restorative justice through artistic and narrative projects. San Sabastian: Tirant.

Morrison, B.E., Osachoff, A., Caputo, V., and Bendo, D. (in progress). Rights, Restoration and Justice for Children: Shaking the Movers in Canada. In A. Wolthuis & T. Chapman (Eds.), Restorative Justice and Children’s Rights: Questioning and Positioning Rights Based Restorative Justice in Criminal Cases. Amsterdam: Eleven Publishing.