WHAT IS RESTORATIVE PRACTICE?

Restorative Practice is a response to wrongdoing that prioritizes repairing harm, to the extent possible, caused or revealed by the wrongful behavior. Stakeholders impacted most by the wrongdoing cooperatively decide how to repair victim harm, hold offenders accountable, and strengthen the community's relational health and safety.  Read an introduction to Restorative Justice Practices in schools by clicking this link:

https://www.edutopia.org/blog/restorative-justice-resources-matt-davis

Wrongdoing breaks down individual relationships, but the ripple effect of those behaviors can extend to friends, families, communities and many others. While wrongdoing causes broken relationships, it also flows from broken relationships and communities. Wrongdoing often occurs wihtin a context of deeper hurts, power imbalances, nad unjust structures. We can dig down to uncover initial hurts that hae been ignored, suppressed, or not recognized. We must give these wounds the light and attention they need to properly heal.

Justice, like wrongdoing, ripples outward. It leads to wholeness and wellbeing within us, our relationships, our communities, and our world. Justice requires that those most impacted by wrongdoing do the hard work of mending their relationships.

Justice also can address the root causes of wrongdoing, even to the point of transforming unjust systems and structures. If restorative justice is based on the idea that we are interconnected, then we must examine and address the context in which wrongdoing occurs. 

Targets or victims of wrongdoing must receive help, as well as the aggressor or perpetrator of wrongdoing. Teachers and staff do not label students as "troublemakers" and remind community members that labels like "bad kid" or "troublemaker" easily become part of a student's identity and have a lasting impact on the child's self image. Sadly, these labels lower expectations and squash a child's belief that they can change and make different choices.  Are PHA, we name behaviors and the emotions that trigger the behaviors, and recognize that a person can make different choices next time.

From the Restorative Justice Exchange, https://restorativejustice.org/why-restorative-justice/the-issue/