Restorative Practices
A growing number of school communities across the United States have begun to explore the use of restorative justice processes as a means of addressing the limitations of these punitive discipline measures. In states like Colorado, Michigan and Minnesota, educators are implementing a variety of restorative discipline alternatives to traditional measures such as detention, suspension, expulsion, and police charges.
Many school districts have found restorative justice to be a more effective means of addressing school and victim safety, and transforming discipline into a learning opportunity. In schools using restorative justice practices, an offending student is given the opportunity to participate in a restorative discipline process as a means of repairing the harm done to those affected by the wrongdoing. These processes are voluntary for the parties and may be offered in lieu of punitive discipline measures, as a re-entry process following traditional discipline, or in combination with reduced sanctions.
Rather than focusing exclusively on the punishment of offenders and their removal from society, the chief concern of restorative justice is to identify and repair the harm done by crime and wrongdoing to the greatest extent possible. This is achieved by holding offenders directly accountable to those they have harmed, through giving victims a direct voice in the process of repair, restoring the safety and trust within communities, and providing more meaningful outcomes for everyone affected.
Howard Zehr, an early pioneer of this movement, coined three “restorative questions” that have guided these restorative practices around the world. The questions are contrasted below with the “retributive questions” that have characterized the dominant response to crime in Western culture:
Restorative Justice
1. What is the harm that was done?
2. How can that harm be repaired?
3. Who is responsible for this repair?
Retributive Justice
1. What is the law that was broken?
2. Who broke that law?
3. How should they be punished?
Many of the different methods of restorative justice described above, such as victim-offender mediation, community group conferencing, and peacemaking circles, have been found to be useful in school settings. A national contact list for restorative practices in schools provides a good starting point for networking if you are considering this kind of work in your school or district.
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Related Catalog Resources
Below you'll find a randomized listing of up to 20 related items (we may have more...) drawn from our Resource Catalog.
| Resource Title | Description | Links |
|---|---|---|
| Restorative justice programs in schools | Web-site created by the Marist Youth Care organization with information about restorative justice programs. "Marist Youth Care is a not for profit agency dealing with at risk young people. We draw our energy and motivation from the call of the gospel to assist socially disadvantaged people to take their rightful place in the community," from the...(see more) | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| Restorative justice for the classroom: Lesson 1 the community web | 3-page pdf lesson "to identify community roles in conflict resolution and develop understanding of the significance of each role in keeping the community safe. Through role play, students learn how each role is a part of an intricate web of community support and how a breakdown in one part of the web affects the whole. Through this lesson students...(see more) | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| Community justice in the campus setting | Pdf article from Conflict Management in Higher Education Report, Volume 3, Number 1, (Oct 2002), which examines the idea of community justice and how it can be used on college campuses to address student misconduct and improve socialization. Includes bibliography. | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| Program theory for restorative practices in schools | Handout which charts how restorative practices function in schools. | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| Restorative justice in the classroom: Lesson 4 the justice circle part 2 | 5-page pdf lesson which provides "students with an understanding of the process of Justice Circles and teaching them how to use this strategy in conflict resolution. Students practice setting restorative consequences and assess whether the consequences they identify would be effective in both healing the victim and helping the offender learn a...(see more) | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| Restorative conferences resource kit | 60-page pdf resource kit for presenting restorative conferences which "(involves the gathering of those who have a stake in a particular troublesome situation, to talk together to find ways of making amends) ... the purpose of these conferences is to discuss what the problem might be and to pool ideas about what might be most helpful from here,...(see more) | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| Restorative justice in the school setting: A whole school approach | 12-page PDF paper promoting the teaching of restorative justice in schools. "Restorative justice is a philosophy and a set of practices that embraces the right blend between a high degree of discipline that encompasses clear expectations, limits and consequences and a high degree of support and nurturance." | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| The Role of Restorative Justice in Teen Courts: A Preliminary Look | In March 2000, the American Probation and Parole Association convened a focus group to examine and discuss the role of restorative justice in teen court programs (also called youth and peer courts). The panel consisted of persons working actively in teen courts and persons working actively in more traditional restorative justice-based...(see more) | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| Continuum of [restorative justice] strategies | 1-page PDF chart illustrating a continuum of restorative justice strategies, with an informal end where staff are provided with skills of how to engage young people in a dialogue that emphasises a greater sense of other and a more formal end with skills to restore damaged relationships following an incident or outburst. | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| Implementing restorative justice: A guide for schools | This 24-page pdf is designed to introduce the concepts of restorative justice and restorative discipline to school personnel. "The guide advises on the use of the restorative justice philosophy to achieve student accountability, competency development, as well as community safety. The guide is specifically designed to provide Illinois school...(see more) | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| 40 cases: Restorative justice and victim-offender mediation | 86-page book in PDF format which, "provides a diverse range of first hand accounts from mediators and facilitators offering some means of communication between victims and offenders. Through the authentic voices of practitioners, the cases unfold to reveal how communication was facilitated and the outcomes that followed. This publication aims to...(see more) | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| Restorative justice in the classroom: Lesson 2 class meetings | 8-page pdf lesson which "through role-play and discussion, this lesson will help students understand the motives behind offending and re-offending and to develop problem-solving consequences that will help offenders learn a better way to behave. By developing restorative consequences, the classroom community can help the offender repair the harm...(see more) | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| National evaluation of the restorative justice in schools programme | 99-page pdf document which provides the findings of national (England and Wales), "projects [which] spanned a range of different approaches to introducing restorative practices into schools, including restorative justice conferences ... the contract to evaluate these initiatives was awarded to Partners in Evaluation, a specialist agency with a...(see more) | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| Making things right: Restorative justice comes to campuses | Pdf article from Conflict Management in Higher Education Report, Volume 1, Number 1, (Jan/Feb 2000), discussing the use of restorative justice principles for "creative options to traditional justice systems, options which are flexible enough to allow positive productive responses to a variety of offenses or violations and which also meet the...(see more) | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| Educational discipline using the principles of restorative justice | 15-page pdf article which "shows how restorative justice techniques can be used with students in correctional and alternative education settings. The simple principles of restorative justice are outlined and their suitability for offenders is illustrated through actual prison incidents that have been dealt with using these principles. A protocol...(see more) | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| Best practices in bullying prevention and intervention | Pdf document outlining best practices for bullying prevention and intervention. | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| Restorative justice programs in schools | Powerpoint presentation introducing the idea of restorative justice. | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| Restorative Justice: A Working Guide for Our Schools | The purpose of this publication, available as a 43-page pdf, is to provide support and guidance for teachers, health workers, community leaders, and school personnel who seek to implement Restorative Justice in their schools. The guide introduces Restorative Justice concepts, articulates what is new about the approach, explores benefits, outcomes...(see more) | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| Addressing off-campus student conduct with restorative justice | Pdf article from Conflict Management in Higher Education Report, Volume 6, Number 1, (Nov 2005), which introduces a program where "over 200 students ... participated in restorative justice, meeting face-to-face with community members, fellow students, and campus staff to resolve their cases at the neighborhood level, the results of their...(see more) | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| A Social Justice Lens: A Teaching Resource Guide | This 12-page guide provides a lens that applies social justice and critical theory to all aspects of an educators professional life. The tool provides a framework for unions and schools to help guide policy, plan actions, and evaluate resources for social change. Social justice theory focuses on equity for all and critical theory requires action...(see more) | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
