Imogen Sloss: On Harnessing PACS, Psychology and Restorative Justice

For Imogen Sloss, the desire for peace has always been an anchor in her life; growing up, it was a central value in her family and her community. Throughout high school, Imogen fostered this desire for peace through her passion for social justice, and after graduation, she continued to seek out opportunities to make a difference. One such opportunity was a six-month learning service program that took her across Canada and then to Guatemala. During the program, Imogen spent a week in Saskatchewan with Mennonite Central Committee, learning about their restorative justice program and hearing from people who had previously been incarcerated; this experience was her first significant introduction to restorative justice and how it can be used to transform communities. As she searched for the right undergraduate program to further her studies, her passion for peace and restorative justice drew her towards the Peace and Conflict Studies (PACS) program at the University of Waterloo.

Going into university, Imogen knew she wanted to pursue a career in clinical psychology, so she planned to double major in PACS and Psychology early on in her degree. She credits the flexibility of the PACS program for giving her the freedom to choose courses outside of the PACS major, including those that fulfilled her Psychology major requirements. Imogen appreciated how easy it was to tailor her degree towards her interests and passions.

Imogen’s experiences after high school gave her an early introduction to the concept of Restorative Justice, and it continued to capture her interest during her studies in PACS. In PACS 331: Trauma, Healing and Social Transformation, a course she took with Professor Johonna McCants-Turner, she learned about restorative justice approaches to solving conflict, but also studied transformative justice, which takes restorative justice a step further and looks at the deeper, systemic issues at play. Imogen describes the concept of transformative justice as “the idea that we can respond to problems, but unless we recognize the root cause or the larger societal inequities, we’re not going to be leading to long term change. I think it was something I intuitively knew, but it was really great to talk more about it and really dive into it”.

During her time in the PACS program, Imogen has taken what she has learned about restorative justice and applied it not only in the classroom, but also within the University and local community. Inspired by the teaching of the PACS program, Imogen and a group of her friends, all residents at Conrad Grebel University College, sought to apply restorative justice concepts in a real-world setting. Their solution was to run a restorative justice workshop for a group of residence dons at Grebel, teaching them how to apply restorative practices in their work with students. "We were able to come together, put together what we had learned and put the passions we all had into action."

Imogen also volunteers with The Ripple Effect Education (TREE), a peace education program and core collaborator with the Kindred Credit Union Centre for Peace Advancement. TREE strives to equip as many people with the tools they need to transform conflict, seek justice, and build positive peace into their relationships, starting at a young age.

In her work as a volunteer, Imogen visits elementary schools and runs conflict resolution workshops, helping students to grow their interpersonal skills.

As a PACS and Psychology double major, Imogen is also involved with Psychology research on the UWaterloo campus. She currently works as a Lab Manager at the FamilyPsycle Lab, where she helps to research how families respond to the complexities of trauma, adversity and mental health challenges. When families face war, natural disasters, and other traumas, there are numerous factors that impact their ability to recover and thrive. The FamilyPsycle Lab studies these intersections to improve the delivery of therapy methods like trauma-informed family therapy. Imogen has observed that her studies in PACS frequently intersect with her work in the lab, whether the concepts overlap with, compliment, or “fill in the gaps” in the field of psychology.

For Imogen, viewing the two disciplines together provides her more balance. “When I learn about psychology now, I am able to have that perspective where I’m taking issues like poverty and racism and discrimination into account— to understand people’s experiences better.”

Last year, Imogen undertook a directed studies project within the FamilyPsycle Lab. The study measured the intergenerational impacts of childhood adversity and the impact of social support on family functioning— a subject that was inspired by the PACS program’s focus on community and intergenerational trauma. Then, for her PACS capstone paper, Imogen built on her knowledge of restorative justice by looking at how restorative practices can be applied in schools, to help support youth who have experienced trauma. The research looked at restorative justice approaches through the lens of trauma— an area of study she had gained experience with while working in the FamilyPsycle Lab. The interdisciplinary nature of the PACS program enabled her to combine these two interests in a way that brought out the strengths in both fields. Reflecting on her experience in Peace and Conflict Studies, she notes that the program has allowed her to develop a more holistic understanding of people and the larger-scale societal injustices that affect them.

Wherever the future takes her, Imogen strives to continue these endeavors: weaving together the strengths of PACS and Psychology to create meaningful change in the field of clinical psychology and beyond.

By Alivia Schill