Tag: Restorative Practices
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Q&A: Training Restorative Justice Facilitators to Understand Structural Inequities
Q: How can I help the facilitators I train in my program to understand the structural dimensions of crime? I worry that they are too focused on the interpersonal dimensions of crime and are ignoring the larger harms and roots of conflict in race-, class-, and gender-based systemic inequities. A: This is a common issue…
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United Nations Roundtable on Restorative Pedagogy
Last month, I was honored to be invited to be part of a roundtable on Restorative Pedagogy hosted by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Here is a description of the roundtables from the UNODC press release. “From criminology, psychology and political studies degrees, to university courses for the social workers, lawyers…
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As School Contracts with Police are Called into Question, Consider Restorative Justice
We are in a time of immense change in our country and one thing that is being reconsidered is the role of police and punitive sanctions more broadly in schools. Research has shown that the presence of police and punitive sanctions in schools often drives students —particularly minority and poor students—out of school, resulting in…
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Restorative Circles: A Student Perspective
This video from San Francisco Unified School District and features students of all ages reflecting on their experience being part of Restorative Circles in the classroom. I love hearing their thoughts! Keen to give restorative circles a try? Start with a relationship building circle! You can find instructions for facilitation a Connection Circle here.
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Q&A Facilitating Circles Online
Question: I want to continue to hold circles with my students/staff during this time of social distancing. I feel we need the connection now more than ever! How can I facilitate a circle through video chat without the ability to actually sit in a circle together or pass a talking piece? Answer: I agree! Cultivating…
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Strengths-Based Restorative Justice Agreements: Using Art to Make Things Right
Restorative justice practitioners place a great deal of emphasis on being strengths-based. This means identifying and supporting an individual’s assets: the positive passions, skills, interests, and connections that make them unique. Taking the time to identify these strengths with participants has many benefits. It helps to combat feelings of stigmatizing shame by showing that you…
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Tips and Tricks for Maintaining Facilitator Neutrality in Pre-Conferences
The pre-conference is, in many ways, the most important part of the restorative justice process. A bad conference, more often than not, is the fault of poor pre-conferencing. Pre-conferencing refers to the individual meetings that the facilitators hold with the responsible party and harmed party and their respective support people prior to bringing the parties…
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Restorative Justice and #MeToo
The New York Times recently published an opinion piece titled #MeToo Doesn’t Always Have to Mean Prison. It is an excellent article that highlights the benefits of making a restorative justice response available to those who have experienced sexual harm. As the article notes, “#MeToo rightly emphasizes victims’ healing and accountability for the people who harmed them.…
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Book Launch: The Little Book of Restorative Teaching Tools
My first book, The Little Book of Restorative Teaching Tools, will be released on March 10, 2020. There are a few events coming up, both locally in Colorado and online, to celebrate the launch. If you are interested in learning more about the book, I would love to have you attend one of these events!…
Lindsey Pointer, PhD 