Restorative
Practices/Processes/Concepts/Principles:
Overview
Paradigm Shift: relationship based
Traditional Approach
Restorative Approach
School and rules violated
People and relationships violated
Justice focuses on establishing guilt
Justice identifies needs and obligations
Accountability = punishment
Accountability = understanding
impact, repairing harm
Justice directed at person who caused
harm, person who experienced harm
ignored
Person who caused harm, person who
experienced harm and school all have
direct roles in justice process
Rules and intent outweigh whether
outcome is positive/negative
Person who caused harm is responsible
for harmful behavior, repairing harm
and working toward positive outcomes
No opportunity for remorse or amends
Opportunity given for amends and
expression of remorse
Restorative Principles
1. Acknowledges that relationships are central to building community.
2. Builds systems that address misbehavior and harm in a way that strengthens
relationships.
3. Focuses on the harm done rather than only on rule-breaking.
4. Gives voice to the person harmed.
5. Engages in collaborative problem solving.
6. Empowers change and growth.
7. Enhances Responsibility.
Affective Statements/Restorative Enquiry:
The starting point for all restorative processes involving active non-judgmental listening and
expression of feelings and impact. Affective statements allow for students and staff to build
strengthened relationships by genuinely presenting oneself as someone who cares and has
feelings. This authentic expression offers one the opportunity to learn and reflect on how
their behavior has affected others.
Restorative Language:
Who was impacted or affected by what happened?
What was the resulting harm?
What needs do those involved have?
What needs to happen to repair the harm?
Restorative Questions:
A restorative approach to help those harmed by other's actions, as well as responding to
challenging behavior consists in asking key questions:
1. What happened, and what were you thinking at the time?
2. What have you thought about since?
3. Who has been affected by what you have done? In what way?
4. What about this has been hardest for you?
5. What do you think you need to do to make things as right as possible?
Circles:(Community Building and Repairing Harm)
Circles can be used for team building and problem solving. It enables a group to get to know
each other, builds inclusion, and allows for the development of mutual respect, trust,
sharing, and concern. Circles provide students with opportunities to share their feelings,
ideas, and experiences in order to establish relationships and develop social norms on a noncrisis basis. When there is wrongdoing, circles play an active role in addressing the wrong
and making things right.
Restorative Dialogue/Conference:
A collaborative, decision-making approach that involves a face to face encounter between
offenders and their families with victims and their supporters. The conference seeks to
support offenders as they take responsibility and change their behavior, empower the
offenders’ families to participate in the process, and addresses the victim’s needs with the
goal of repairing the harm.
Social Discipline Window:
TO
Punitive
WITH
RESTORATIVE
High control and
Low support =
Punitive/
Authoritarian
-------------------Low control and
Low support =
Neglectful
--------------------
NOT
Neglectful
FOR
Permissive
High support and
Low control =
Permissive
-------------------High support
and High
control =
RESTORATIVE
Fair Process:
Three core components of Fair Process:
1 - Engagement: Involving individuals in decisions that affect them by asking for their
input and allowing them to refute the merit of one another’s ideas.
2 - Explanation: Everyone involved and affected should understand why final decisions are
made as they are. Creates powerful feedback loop that enhances
learning.
3 - Expectation Clarity: Once decisions are made, new rules are clearly stated, so that
everyone understands the new boundaries and consequences of
failure.
Compass of Shame:
The four poles of the compass of shame and behaviors associated with
them are:




Withdrawal—isolating oneself
Attack self—self put-down
Avoidance—denial
Attack others—turning the tables, lashing out verbally or physically, blaming
others
Recognizing the behaviors associated with shame will assist us in our
interactions with our students, as well as with one another. According to
Donald Nathanson, individuals respond in one of four ways when their
positive affect is disrupted. Learning to expect one of these behavioral
responses will allow for a greater understanding into a students' current state
of mind and presented response to intervention. This in turn offers valuable
information to be used as a guide to further address the behavior with the
intention to minimize and de-escalate conflict.