Restorative Justice (RJ)

Created by EMILY MACY

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Topics & Concepts: Restorative Justice (RJ), Inclusion, Encounter, Amends, Reintegration, School to Prison Pipeline, Harm Mapping, Perpetrator, Reconciliation, Amnesty, Reparations, Root Cause, Advocacy, Campaign Strategy, Tactics of Change

Guiding Questions:

  • Does RJ work in practice?

  • How can RJ be used to reform mass incarceration?

  • How can RJ be used within schools to decrease and prevent conflict?

  • How can RJ be used to address juvenile justice and decrease the school to prison pipeline?

  • Was South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission helpful in overcoming racism and apartheid in South Africa?

Unit Sequence: This unit follows a previous unit on the Prison Industrial Complex and assumes students' prior knowledge of the PIC.

  • The first week is an introduction to RJ. It covers the basic tenets of RJ processes; a comparison to the PIC; arguments in favor of RJ; the Indigenous/Aboriginal Roots of RJ; and its implementation in schools, prisons and the juvenile justice system. Activities include close readings, video analysis, jigsaw, lecture and socratic seminar.

  • In Week 2, students are introduced to Harm Mapping and apply the framework to think about how to address fictional scenarios in Oakland.

  • In Weeks 3 and 4, students complete a group project on the application of RJ in a specific context: mass incarceration, juvenile justice or conflict mediation in schools. Each group researches their context, creates and delivers a presentation that explains the context of the case study, identifies root causes of the issues, advocates for specific reforms and proposes a campaign strategy.

  • The last week of the unit is a case study of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Council. Students watch the film "In My Country" and reflect on the question: "Was South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission helpful in overcoming racism and apartheid in South Africa?"

Notes on Materials Included:

  • There are two folders for this unit, titled "Unit 6 - Restorative Justice" and "Unit 6 - RJ materials from Dropbox", housing different sets of materials. Included in the folders are slides for most days of instruction and readings and worksheets for all lessons.

  • The "Unit Ideas" file includes links to additional resources.