Restorative justice as reflective practice and applied pedagogy on college campuses

Abstract

AbstractRestorative justice (RJ) is both a methodology for dealing with conflict and a process for modeling more positive human relations after social harm. As both method and process, the benefits of developing restorative practices on college campuses go well beyond just the many positive community-oriented outcomes of facilitated conflict resolution processes. We argue that the opportunities for reflective pedagogy and learning for student facilitators outpace the pragmatic benefits to the parties in conflict. By explaining the reflective learning and theoretical interaction that has blossomed between and among students and teachers during the implementation of a RJ initiative in DePauw University's Conflict Studies Program (CSP), this paper problematizes the role of student engagement and practice in analytical learning about conflict and conflict resolution. The CSP/RJ project, a liberal arts practice initiative, provides a space and structure for undergraduate students to apply conflict theory and learn through the experience of facilitating restorative conferences. Restorative conferences facilitate dialog between harmed individuals and those responsible for causing the harm. In providing victim(s) with a voice and offender(s) the opportunity to take primary responsibility for repairing past harm, restorative conferences represent an untapped resource for students of applied peace education and teachers' interested in applied conflict pedagogy.Keywords: conflict resolutionculture of peacetransformative learningstudentssocial justice Notes1. The question of whether an RJ process should be separate from particular academic departments is a more contested issue. In the case of CSP/RJ program, there remains concern that too close a link to the CSP limits the reach of the program and does not allow non-Conflict Studies majors/minors to be involved in the process. At Guilford College, the CRRC is intentionally linked to the Peace and Conflict Studies Department so that the skills and theories introduced in a core intervention class can be reinforced and deepened. While the issue of linking practice components to academic programs is not addressed in this paper, the many complex and context sensitive issues involved deserve further research and discussion.2. Terminology for the participants in a RJ conference can become tricky fast. We prefer to use 'respondent' as opposed to 'offender,' due to the negative and retributive connotations that accompany the idea of offenders. Similarly, we hesitate to use the terminology of victim, and instead attempt to humanize the 'victims' of harms as either the too legalistic 'plaintiff' or more manageable 'community resident.'3. Facilitators and observers were chosen by the learning community based on level of preparation and collective confidence in their abilities. As on-going training is critical in such a program the choice of facilitators is a collective decision, and those with past observation experience must take precedence over those without.4. It is important to note that Campus Life did not have a representative in the RJ conference largely because the facilitators wanted to be clear on the separation between the Campus Life office and the CSP/RJ process.5. I place 'neutrality' in single quotes to represent the complexity and interdependence of this term with so many contested and complicated concepts like power, justice, and ideology. For an excellent deconstruction of the concept of 'neutrality' in mediation see Cobb and Rifkin (Citation1991).6. Fisher (Citation1997) writes about John Burton's idea of controlled communication: 'Burton makes it clear that the first procedures contemplated for the discussion were too rigid, and that the scholars from different disciplines had to relax their usual ways of analyzing and responding to conflict and join with representatives in mutual analysis' (Fisher Citation1997, 27). This mutual analysis is something that can never be completely planned for or controlled, much less studied in most traditional disciplinary structures of the modern university system.