蜜桃影视

1. What is restorative justice?

is an approach to school discipline that emphasizes making the victim and offender whole, as opposed to more traditional, punitive measures. Instead of employing detention, suspension, or expulsion when students commit infractions, restorative justice uses mediation between the offender(s) and the victim(s) involved in an incident. As its adherents describe it, this mediation involves an open discussion of feelings toward each other, possible acceptance of fault on one or more sides, and an agreement of reparations or next steps.

2. How does restorative justice work?

Instead of the initial response to a disciplinary infraction being punitive, restorative justice generally begins with a conference between all those involved in an incident. This includes the victim and perpetrator of any incident, along with at least one facilitator who is grounded in restorative practices. This facilitator or group of facilitators usually includes at least one adult. The conversation that ensues is loosely organized to cover the following points:

• What occurred between the victim and the perpetrator, and why
• How the incident made the victim and perpetrator feel
• The perpetrator鈥檚 intent in causing the incident
• Advocacy for reparations from the facilitator(s) and the victim
• Discussion of and resolution for a particular form of restitution
• Agreement from the perpetrator to make restitution and, in some cases, the victim as well, depending on what conflict led up to the incident at hand

3. How did restorative justice start?

Historians trace the first school-based restorative practices to . (Not coincidentally, Australia was one of the first countries to employ restorative justice as an alternative to criminal justice.) As schools experienced success with the techniques, the movement spread. It remains unclear when these techniques began to be adopted by American schools. is recognized as one of the first and most vocal proponents of restorative justice in the American criminal justice system. Zehr grew the movement . Concurrently, , and the seeds of interest were planted in juvenile justice and school discipline reform advocates.

4. Do schools practice restorative justice the same way?

The terms restorative practices, circles, and mediations have been used to mean similar things by different schools. There is certainly a range of practices that can be described by one or more of these terms. Each emphasizes different steps in the restorative process, and may employ different protocols for dialogue and agreements. For instance, some schools run circles on a regular basis to build community. These schools feel that they can preemptively make their communities stronger and avoid conflict between members if circle talk is a regular occurrence. When this practice becomes a part of a school鈥檚 fabric, dialogue around cultural exchanges between community members, ideas about how to improve understanding and relationships, and ways to grow student-centered processes at school. Other schools might only run mediations to handle conflicts, or have a stricter or looser set of protocols. Many likely combine restorative and traditional approaches. All forms of restorative approaches focus on consequences that have a meaningful relationship to the infraction.

5. Is restorative justice becoming more popular? Who is employing it, and who is advocating for it?

Restorative justice appears to be gaining traction in American public schools. The New York City Department of Education invested in pilot programs with restorative approaches to discipline at 20 district schools in June 2015. This year, they added for students returning to school from superintendent suspensions. Oakland Unified School District has been implementing restorative practices for . National advocacy groups (among them ) have joined the chorus of voices for restorative practices.

California and Maryland have moved to restrict suspension practices. At the district level, so have and . With schools in these areas no longer able to suspend students for a wide range of infractions, they may turn to restorative justice. This is already the case in and .

The federal government鈥檚 2014 on school climate demonstrated a growing belief about the importance of school disciplinary systems that are less punitive. Both U.S. Education Secretary and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton have called for dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline.

International use of restorative practices as well.

6. Why do some support restorative justice?

Advocates for restorative approaches often emphasize that are correlated with a number of negative outcomes for students, and have stark racial disparities.

Generally, proponents of restorative justice argue that practicing it, in some form, communities together and racial biases and misconceptions, which advocates say are reflected in school suspension and expulsion rates. Additionally, restorative justice supporters feel that students have a significantly better chance of learning and graduating if they are in class as much as possible.

Even a number of charter schools 鈥� some of which have been known for strict disciplinary approaches 鈥� have embraced less punitive policies, including restorative justice.

7. Why are some people skeptical of restorative justice?

Skeptics of restorative justice often argue that traditional methods of discipline 鈥� especially suspensions 鈥� get an unfair rap. They claim that disruptive students peers by taking away learning time and that suspensions can deter misbehavior, while improving outcomes for non-suspended students. (Evidence on this question is mixed, with some showing positive results of suspensions for students who remain in class, while other show negative effects of suspension across the board.)

Other of restorative justice worry about the cost, implementation, and potentially time-consuming nature of implementing these practices.

Finally, some advocates of charter schools that suspensions are an important tool for managing student behavior, pointing to large for many so-called 鈥渘o excuses鈥� schools that have strict disciplinary policies.

8. Is restorative justice working? How do we know?

It鈥檚 hard to say because rigorous scientific studies yielding conclusive evidence on the effect of restorative justice have yet to be conducted. However, relay the following positive outcomes:

• Lower suspension and expulsion rates
• Fewer major disciplinary incidents in school
• Less long-term absenteeism
• Survey responses indicating improved school climate

Very little research on academic improvement as it relates to schools with restorative practices exists, and the qualitative studies that do are mixed. have been suggested along with a significant . However, these data, along with the school climate, truancy, and discipline metrics, should be read cautiously because of methodological limitations. More research needs to be done to conclude with confidence that restorative justice leads to improvements in school climate and student outcomes.

9. Is restorative justice expensive?

Restorative justice can potentially cost significant amounts of money, which many advocates of the practice acknowledge. However, precise estimates of additional costs are hard to come by. The ideal program, according to supporters, includes staff members exclusively dedicated to  planning mediations, assisting with facilitation of mediations, and tracking outcomes of mediations. In addition to the cost of additional staff members, staff and faculty should be trained, which could draw significantly on a school鈥檚 or district鈥檚 budget for professional development.

According to a representative of Teachers Unite 鈥� a non-profit that runs workshops in restorative justice for public schools 鈥� proper professional development in restorative justice takes significant amounts of time and effort. Additionally, the mediation and restitution process itself generally takes more time to implement than traditional methods.

10. Is restorative justice worth it?

It鈥檚 too soon to say, but if the results from qualitative studies are validated by empirical research, the answer may be yes. Given , and the connection between both drop-outs and incarceration and , well-run restorative programs could save a great deal of money. Most importantly, the approach has the potential to improve student outcomes and to counteract the school-to-prison pipeline. However, any benefits of restorative justice programs would have to be weighed against additional costs.

11. What鈥檚 necessary for restorative justice to be done right?

Even according to advocates, there are many when implementing restorative justice: staff-wide buy-in, training, and the resources to carry out the work. Restorative justice can easily fall apart if it is not practiced consistently or there is insufficient follow-up to ensure agreements are upheld post-conference. This is difficult if some staff members do not believe in its value, training lacks precision or depth, models of practice within a building differ substantially, or there aren鈥檛 staff members dedicated to implementing restorative justice effectively.

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