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Background of the Problem
Payne and Welch (2017) in their study sought to establish the influence of school
conditions on restorative justice. They argue that existing punishment including expulsions and
suspensions are becoming increasingly harsh although there has a been a remarkable decline in
student delinquency, victimization and violence. According to the authors, exclusionary
punishments have been on a steady rise in the last 50 years and remain high today with reported
3.5 million suspensions and 130,000 expulsions in 2012. Majority of these expulsions have
emanated from the government’s zero tolerance approach that were as a result of high-profile
offences in schools. These policies include zero tolerance on possessions of contrabands such as
drugs, guns, knives or certain behaviors. In this way, schools have been responding to these
violations with measures similar to those in the criminal justice system. Such exclusionary
punishments can be detrimental to students in various ways including poor performance,
negative attitude towards learning, poor grades and dropping out. Other likely effects of
exclusionary punishments include lower graduation rates, lower professional opportunities, high
likelihood of physical fighting, drug abuse, smoking and other delinquent actions.
However, other studies indicate that exclusionary punishments are more pronounced
among Black and Hispanic students irrespective of the school-based behavior. In most instances,
Black and Hispanic students have more likely to receive punishment in comparison to white
students leading to suspension and expulsion. These students are also less likely to receive mild
discipline in comparison to white students. Thus, the exclusionary penalties may not only fail to
eliminate misbehavior and violence in schools but in reality, increase the likelihood and
frequency of these acts. On the other hand, restorative justice has the likelihood of promoting
positive outcomes including higher academic performance and reduced recidivism. These may
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include peer mediation, restitution, community service and student conferences as alternative
restorative justice approaches.
Research Questions
Due to the undesirable effects of misbehavior for students and schools, it is necessary that
alternative measures of discipline are considered. These restorative justice approaches are likely
to be more effective in repairing harm and preventing other future offences though reconciliation
of victims, offenders and the community (Payne & Welch, 2017). Contrast to punitive practices
such as suspension and expulsions, restorative justice takes into consideration the existing
student relationships a move from the goals of punishment to reconciliation. These practices
have been in use for the last three decades and successfully implemented in countries such as
Australia. Although many schools in the United States are using these practices, there is no
adequate information to indicate the success or failure of these techniques. Thus, the authors
posit that when those in authority with others as opposed to doing things for others, the results
will be a happiness and cooperation between individuals. In this way, students will more likely
build strong and successful relationships in socially responsive environments as opposed to a
socially controlled one.
The authors argue that the objective of restorative justice is to create positive emotions
of empathy, excitement and eliminate negative elements such as humiliation and anger. On the
other hand, exclusionary punishments are meant to build and punish. In this way restorative
approaches become more responsive to the needs of the students. It is because restitution reduces
the risk of reoccurrences though repair and resolutions. Essentially, as opposed to punishing
students, restorative approaches assist them understand the impacts of their behavior on others.
Six hypotheses are used to answer the question on whether school conditions affect the use of
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restorative justice in schools. They focus on school structure, student and faculty characteristics
and community characteristics.
Study Method and Results
The researcher used a quantitative study design using survey data to characterize schools
by level and location. The study used a sample size of 1287 schools stratified as either rural,
suburban or urban and either high, middle or elementary. The authors used measures and scales
and descriptive statistics to asses the hypothesis. There were various dependent variables,
independent variables and control measures. As indicated, the dependent variables were the four
elements of restorative justice focusing on pee medication, restitution, community service and
student conferences. On the other hand, independent variables included 12 structural elements
that could possibly influence the use of restorative justice as a discipline approach. These
elements included grade level to indicate whether it is a middle o senior school. Also, the school
size, number of different students taught, percentage of black students and percentage of
Hispanic students among others. Moreover, the study had a control variable. These variables are
held constant for all observation in the study by the researchers (Aneshensel, 2013). These
included the evaluation of crime and victimization incidences in schools since these elements
could only naturally influence the type of disciplinary approach selected. Finally, the authors
used the regression models to describe the relationship between the four restorative justice
variables and the independent variables. The regression technique is beneficial to this study as it
allows the researchers to establish the statistically significant correlations between the
independent and dependent variables.
The authors report that the results indicate a significant relationship between various
dependent and independent variables. For instance, there is a strong correlation between the
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number of students taught and the use of restitution. In this case, the result indicated that for
every additional student taught, the likelihood of a school choosing restitution approach to
discipline reduced by a factor of .903. also, the percentage of black students has a strong
correlation to use of restitution and that one percent increase in black students influences the use
of situation by a factor of .923. Other significant correlations include the use of peer mediation
and the number of different students taught. However, this variable is negatively related with the
percentage of Hispanic students and students receiving free lunch. The use of community service
is also correlated to percentage of black students and the amount of school crime.
Evidently, the study yielded mixed results as the use of restorative techniques is partially
influenced by the school structure. Although the level of schools does not influence the use of
restorative justice approaches, results suggest that peer mediation is the most selected approach
in larger schools. Surprisingly, these results also indicate that schools with large number of
students often use peer mediation as opposed to restitution. It is may suggest that peer mediation
is more suitable for a large number of students. Interestingly, the results indicate that schools
with large population of black students are less likely to require the use of restitution and
community service approaches. Moreover, schools which provide free lunch are more likely than
others to provide student conferences and peer mediation approaches. To such a complex issue,
the authors conclude that school-level factors affect the likelihood of restorative justice
approaches in schools.
Quantitative to Qualitative Change
To evaluate these research questions and understand such quantitative data, Payne &
Welch (2017) used a statistical survey approach involving gathering, evaluation s and
presentation of data to identify correlations and patterns. Quantitative data is important for this
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type of study because it is easier to undertake and analyze. However, having explored the
purpose and the nature of this study, the research methods could be altered to qualitative and
yield more positive research outcomes. In this way, the authors could utilize various data
collection techniques including observations and interviews. In this case, the most appropriate
method would be interviews.
When designing the interviews, it would be ideal to ideal to ask the questions that would
give clear and robust information concerning the developed research questions. Such is
paramount to address the aims and objectives of the study which is to assess the effect of school
conditions on the use of restorative justice. The randomly sampled participants would be
provided with self-completed questionnaire including questions on peer mediation, restitution,
community service and student conferences. However, these questions would be open ended
providing an opportunity to have sensitive, neutral and understandable process (Jamshed 2014).
The interview questions would include the core question and other related questions which
improve though pilot testing of the process. for an effective capturing of interview data,
recording of the interviews would be ideal. The data would then be thematically and deductively
analyzed to establish patterns and correlations. Among the advantages of these techniques
include flexibility.
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References
Aneshensel, C. S. (2013). Theory-based data analysis for the social sciences. SAGE.
Jamshed, S. (2014). Qualitative research method-interviewing and observation. Journal of Basic
and Clinical Pharmacy, 5(4), 87. https://doi.org/10.4103/0976-0105.141942
Payne, A. A., & Welch, K. (2017). The effect of school conditions on the use of restorative
justice in schools. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 16(2), 224240. https://doi.org/10.1177/1541204016681414