Michigan Department of Education Segment 6: RJ Formal Interventions

1. Introduce Restorative Justice (RJ) Practices on the formal end of the continuum. 2. Show an example of how RJ applies to a common situation in schools. 3. Explore using some of these more formal RJ practices.

Informal Formal Affective Statements Affective Questions Small Impromptu Conference Restorative Circle Restorative Conference Sentencing Circle Victim-Offender Mediation Based on the IIRP’s Restorative Practices Handbook Page 12 Community-building Circles Restorative Philosophy Re-entry Circle

 On the RJ Practices Continuum, the formal practices include Restorative Circles and Conferences. These two interventions have many similarities including:  Both engage at least one person who has been harmed and one who has caused harm and can also include community members as supporters and/or persons who have been harmed.  Both are conducted with participants sitting in a circle.  Both are facilitated discussions in which those directly affected develop consensus on how best to address the incident.  Both work through the three main points of RJ:  Come to a common understanding of what happened.  Identify those affected and how.  Develop consensus on how to make things right. And they have some significant differences...

 Flexible format within circle setting  Shared control  Builds consensus  Useful for more than just resolving conflict Restorative CirclesRestorative Conferences  Highly structured and scripted within circle setting  Helps facilitator maintain tight control of process  Allows for deep exploration of issues  Used to resolve conflict with clear victim(s) and offender(s) Restorative Circles and Conferences differ in some significant ways as outlined below. Each intervention can provide a useful approach to different situations where RJ can help resolve conflict or address misconduct.

You must answer YES to the following questions to successfully use the formal RJ interventions.  Are at least some of those harmed willing to talk with other affected parties to resolve the issue? (Willing participation is ESSENTIAL!)  Have any of those who caused harm taken responsibility for their actions, and are they interested in making things right?  Is there a benefit to resolving the issue restoratively? Is there value, even if an offending party is not identified or willing to participate?  Can you keep everyone physically and emotionally safe throughout the process and can you be neutral so you can treat all parties with equal respect ? Preparation is KEY!

Before bringing parties together to resolve a conflict or harm, talk with every participant to:  Introduce yourself and help participants feel more comfortable with you and the process.  Confirm that those who caused harm will take responsibility and want to do what’s needed to make things right.  Describe the process and what they can expect when they meet in circle. Tell them how you will arrange the seating, who you have invited. Go through the main questions you plan to ask and have each participant tell you what happened from his/her perspective so you know what each is thinking. This also gives them experience answering the questions before they must do so in circle.  Help them understand this is not like a typical disciplinary meeting. They are doing the work—you are just asking the questions.

 Some facilitators guarantee confidentiality from the organization, as is done in community mediation and other interventions.  Many public schools programs, however, cannot promise confidentiality because they must report back to the referring administrator, parents, and anyone else responsible for the participants’ welfare.  Some practitioners address mutual confidentiality by asking the circle members during the agreement phase whether they will agree to not tell others what is said in the circle. If so, they may want to build confidentiality into their agreement.

 IF CRIMINAL CHARGES ARE PENDING OR LIKELY, you may want to wait until the case has been resolved in the justice system before attempting a restorative resolution.  Because all RJ participants must take responsibility for their actions, you could be violating a participant’s constitutional right against self-incrimination if you engage him/her in restorative justice before the case is legally resolved.

 Consider the balance of power in setting up a restorative circle so that all participants feel safe at all times. Adult/parent supporters, for example, have great personal power. So if one or more students in circle have an adult supporter participating, find an adult supporter for every student participant. In many student-only circles, however, the absence of a student supporter for one participant may not tip the balance of power. The facilitator should check with all participants, inviting them to either include a supporter or, if they feel comfortable, agree to participate without support.  If you have one person who has been harmed by multiple others, make sure the victim has enough supporters to balance the number or relative power of offenders participating.  Some schools of thought rule out restorative responses to situations of domestic violence or severe bullying because the balance of power is often skewed toward the person causing the harm.  Others feel restorative justice is the best way to resolve such situations. Whatever you decide, consider carefully how each participant’s personal power will affect the intervention.

 If you have participants who might become violent or behave in any unsafe manner, consider inviting a school administrator or uniformed law enforcement officer to participate as a voice for the community.  Consider whether or not you want to seat that authority figure next to the potentially violent or disruptive person. Sometimes the uniformed presence can help encourage peaceful participation.  If at any time you do not feel you can ensure every participant’s safety, you should end the circle and refer the situation to the traditional discipline system. Sometimes merely mentioning that possibility helps participants correct their negative behaviors.

 Remember the hallway incident between Charlie & Tony? It’s back, and Tony’s friend Pat is asking Mr. Tims for help resolving it for good this time.  Watch SEGMENT 3 to see how the RJ Facilitator handles the situation. Pay close attention to the way he asks questions to prepare all the students.  Remember the preconditions for a restorative circle or conference and notice how this plays out as Mr. Tims sets up this circle.

 Either in group or alone, write down what you observed in the video, answering the following questions from all the students’ perspectives ◦ Why did Mr. Tims meet with each young man individually? ◦ How did Mr. Tims handle the situation when Sam declined to participate? Why did he do it that way? ◦ Do they have the right people to resolve this issue without Sam? Should they include anyone else?  At the bottom of the sheet write out your predictions about whether they can reach a restorative agreement or not.  If time allows, share your thoughts with others in your group.