REAL JUSTICE
Paul Britton
Berkeley Vale Public School
What is it we hope to achieve
by punishment?
Deter ?
Satisfy our own sense of justice
Paul Britton –DTL Brisbane 2010
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How is it that we
manage so many
children so well?
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The Two R’s
Relationships
Respect
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Strong Relationships
=
Moral Authority
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Braithwaite:
We are at our
best when we
are in positive
relationships
Dilemma:
How can we correct
behaviour without
destroying the positive
relationship we have
with our students
(and the means by
which we manage
them)?
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Do We Model That
Which We Would Not
Accept From
Students?
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Current punishment
 verbal
 Physical
 Require child to do
something
 Denial
 Isolation
 Removal of privileges
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Many punishments
 Weaken
relationships
 Offender not make
connection
between act and
consequence
 Create further
negative feelings
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Punishment cycle
Further
punishment
Alienation
Further anti
social behaviour
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Basic Welfare Needs
of Children
Love
Security (safety)
Sense of worth
Confidence
Health—food, sleep etc
Positive role models
•Understanding
& Knowledge
•Self
actualisation
Theoretical underpinning…..
•Self esteem
•Love &
Belonging
•Safety
•Physiological
M
A
S
L
O
W
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Should We Get Tougher?
 Zero tolerance: (broken
windows) never worked
in Chicago in the 80s
 No evidence of it having
worked anywhere
 Tale of Two deputies:
 Ralph Pirozzo’s
experience
 Berkeley Vale deputy
 BUT…..
 Politically attractive
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Preoccupation with Blame
 Make mistake
• People lose their job
How does this align with
how we encourage
children to learn?
Is this consistent?
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Harm and Relationships”
“
Adversarial (Blame) approach:
what happened,
who is to blame,
what punishment or sanction is needed?”
Restorative approach:
what happened,
what harm has resulted and
what needs to happen to make things
right?”
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Adversarial
Restorative
Focus is in the past
Focus in past, present
& future
Preoccupied with
blame
Emphasis on resulting
harm
Deterrence linked to
punishment
Deterrence linked to
relationships and
personal
accountability
‘For punishment and sanctions to be effective (in changing
behaviours), they need to be delivered in a context that
provides both meaning and relevance’.
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What if we could correct
behaviour
 Without weakening
relationships
 Without alienation
 Without
engendering further
animosity
 And strengthen
bonds between
perpetrator & victim
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Real Justice
 Restoration/restitution
 Uses emotionunashamedly- because
of its powerful influence
in our lives
 Sense of shame
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Maori elders
 No police
 No gaols
 Most indigenous
communities
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At school: Script:
 What happened
 What were you
thinking at the time
 Whom have you
affected
 What have you
thought of since
 What needs to be
done to make it
right
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What Happened?
 Everyone has a
right to be
heard
 Everyone has a
right to tell their
story
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What were you thinking at the
time?
 Usually
engages
emotions
 Usually end up
telling you why
they did it
 The Past
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Who’s been affected by this?
 Trying to
broaden the
child’s
awareness of
the impact of
their actions?
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What have you thought about
since?
 An opportunity
to dig a little
deeper
– Any remorse?
– Release of
emotion
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What have we got to do to
make it right?
 How we can we
fix this?
 Accept
responsibility for
actions
 Focus on the
future
 Reintegrates
back into group
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Reintegrative Shaming
John Braithwaite
‘Where individual wrong
doers are confronted
(SHAMED) within a
continuum of respect and
support, then a process
of REINTEGRATION can
begin’.
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Not a magic bullet
Not all that time consuming
And it works.
REAL JUSTICE
Comparisons
Survey originally conducted NSW
Teachers Federation Rep
2002
2004
I have been the subject of intimidating 56%
or threatening behaviour
24%
I have been verbally assaulted
74%
61%
I have been physically assaulted
53%
3%
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Detentions over a 4 years period
2001-2004
1800
1600
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
2001
2002
No. of students on DetÕn
2003
2004
No. of Offences
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Berkeley Vale Public School
Suspension rate
40
30
20
10
0
2004
suspe
stude
2005
2006
2007
2008
students
suspensions
2009
2010
Challenge
 Do you want
punish?
 Do you want to
get them to fix it?
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