Alternative disciplinary strategies for K-12 educational institutions have been gaining popularity around the globe for challenging the epidemic of suspensions and expulsions that foster unsafe school climates and position youth on the pipeline-to-prison. This study used a qualitative approach to investigate Restorative Practices (RP) an innovative, alternative approach to discipline that appears to make a difference in New Zealand schools. The purpose of this intrinsic case study was to gain qualitative insight from twelve experienced professionals in RP in New Zealand into an approach that appears to transform school cultures and helps students remain in school and continue learning. The data collected from participants included their perspectives on the purpose and significance of the RP approach and offered insight into the implementation process and suggestions for long lasting sustainability. Participants also stressed how harsh disciplinary policies can impede positive school climates, which ultimately in large measure shape our society. Furthermore, it has been well documented that punitive practices, such as zero-tolerance are largely responsible for the enormous number of suspensions and expulsions that disproportionately impact primarily students with disabilities and students of color. California and other states around the US are currently using the RP model to address problems. The approach has been noted in this study as a paradigm shift in school culture that largely depends on leadership buy-in and effective implementation for success. The objective of this study was to investigate the purpose and significance of the RP for schools using qualitative methods to conduct twelve in-depth interviews of professionals with significant experience of RP in the region of Auckland, New Zealand. Findings from this study suggested that RP is a useful approach for attending to relational harm, which threatens to breakdown social structures in educational institutions. RP was also found to strengthen relationships, improve classroom and school climates and cultures and build social capital. Findings also indicated that RP shifts the power dynamic in the classroom, empowering students by enabling voice and agency, while improving teacher-student relationships, known to help narrow achievement gaps. Moreover, findings showed that RP teaches students valuable life skills, enabling them make better decisions, have healthier relationships, and be positive contributors to society. Finally, the findings suggested that RP repositions education significantly amounting to a huge revolution that can potentially change the future of education. Astute educational leaders and institutions around the globe recognize the need for systemic transformation. New Zealand is highlighted in this study as the leading country for RP in schools worldwide, as it has experienced transformative success with this approach so far.

The harmful effects of exclusionary disciplinary practices, including its disproportionate impact on Black students, have led to calls for school discipline reform at both the national and state levels. Many have called for the dissolution of zero-tolerance policies and the adoption of alternative methods that can ameliorate their harmful impact. Two reform efforts that have been proffered to address this issue center on school climate and restorative justice (RJ). This study focused on narrow aspects of both: Authoritative School Climate (ASC) and restorative justice readiness (RJR). RJR is defined as the measure of beliefs aligned with foundational RJ principles and values concerning harm, needs, obligations, and engagement. Such alignment can potentially lead to increased buy-in and willingness to implement RJ practices. While a large portion of the RJ literature focuses on implementation of RJ practices, researchers have indicated the challenge of successfully implementing and sustaining RJ in schools where there is a lack of buy-in or staff alignment with the principles and values of RJ. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between Authoritative School Climate, as measured by Disciplinary Structure and Student Support, and the construct Restorative Justice Readiness. A secondary purpose of the study was to develop a reliable instrument that could be used to measure both. A quantitative methodology was chosen for this study. A survey comprised of tested and original items was administered to high school staff at twelve high schools in the Inland Valley of Southern California and yielded a sample of 126. Multiple analyses were conducted. Findings revealed statistically significant relationships between items in each subscale; a five-factor solution, statistically significant relationships between Restorative Justice Readiness and both Disciplinary Structure and Student Support; and finally, that Disciplinary Structure and Student Support were predictors of Restorative Justice Readiness. To turn the tide and create more equitable schools, leaders must work to reform current discipline policies and practices. RJ and school climate are two ways to do so. It is important to ensure staff values and beliefs align with these reform efforts before implementation to increase the likelihood of implementation fidelity and sustainability.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is an extremely prevalent and concerning social issue, with limited current intervention and prevention strategies. Batterer intervention programs (BIPs) have demonstrated some small effects of programs in reducing offender recidivism, however there is a growing understanding that not all offenders respond similarly to batterer intervention and the problem of IPV persists. Restorative justice programs including impact panels may be an important addition to BIPs, but research is extremely limited on impact panel effectiveness and whether panels are appropriate for IPV or pose additional safety risks to survivors. The current study consists of a naturalistic mixed-methods evaluation of the use of IPV impact panels in the context of batterer intervention. Data collection methods include an ethnographic inquiry of the program setting and participant experiences, archival data analysis of offender responses to the panel (N = 287), and focus groups (k = 4) with survivors, offenders, and BIP providers to investigate the panel's impact on survivors and offenders and generate potential indicators of panel outcomes for survivors and offenders. Findings suggest that panel impacts on survivors include reaching new understandings, healing, and empowerment; panel impacts on offenders include connection with survivor speakers, reaching new understandings, and healing. Implications, limitations, and future aims of this program of research are discussed.

The rise in the number of Black, male, incarcerated, rural youth and the retributive juvenile justice system is a prominent problem in the United States, creating a revolving door for youth in conflict with the law. Restorative justice is an alternative approach that diverts youth from court and focus on rehabilitation, but lacks sufficient experiential evidence from those involved in the process to support broader implementation. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of restorative justice arbitrators and the role they play in facilitating resolution of youth criminal charges in a rural setting in a southern U.S. state. The research question asked how restorative justice arbitrators perceive and explain their roles, and successes and failures of a restorative justice process with Black male rural youth. The theoretical framework for the study was Braithwaite's reintegrative shaming, which posits the significance of the immediate family and community in rehabilitation. In this multicase study, research data were collected from semistructured interviews of 4 rural restorative justice arbitrators and analyzed using content analysis. Themes that emerged from the analysis were: the key role of rural community involvement in holding youths accountable to victims for their actions, preventing youths from developing a criminal record, and redirecting youth away from incarceration and more toward the community wellbeing. These findings contribute to social change by informing those working with youth crime about implications for the field of restorative justice specifically related to the opportunity for communities to provide benefits not only for juvenile offenders but also for victims and the community as a whole.

Domestic violence impacts millions of Americans annually and, in spite of the use of rehabilitative programs, recidivism in domestic violence continues to be more likely than in any other offense. To date, batterer intervention programs (BIPs) have not proven to be consistently impactful in reducing recidivism in cases of domestic violence. The purpose of this quasi-experimental, quantitative study was to examine differences in recidivism for first-time male domestic violence offenders who have participated in a BIP and a more recently developed alternative: victim-offender mediation (VOM). The theories of restorative justice and reintegrative shaming frame this study to determine if offenders take accountability for their actions and face the victim in mediation, there can be a reduction in recidivism. Archival data from records of first-time male, domestic violence offenders, between the ages of 18 and 30, who participated in either a VOM or BIP in a county in the Midwest were examined for recidivism 24-months postintervention, and analyzed with an ANCOVA analysis while controlling for age. The findings revealed no significant difference in recidivism for first-time male offenders 24-months post participation in a BIP or a VOM intervention while controlling for age F (1,109) =.081, p = .777. The findings provide support for the notion that restorative justice interventions may be an additional intervention used in cases of domestic violence deemed appropriate for the intervention. The findings from this study can add to the body of research examining interventions to address the high recidivism in cases of domestic violence, which impacts victims, offenders, and communities.

acase@tulane.edu

Orientador: Ana Maria Klein / Resumo: O estudo parte do pressuposto de que conflitos são inerentes às relações e expressam as diversidades humanas. Muitas vezes compreendidos de maneira negativa nas escolas, os conflitos são enfrentados por meio de práticas pautadas em um conceito de Justiça Retributiva que se traduz em ações repressivas e punitivas. Apresentamos a Justiça Restaurativa como um novo paradigma que possibilita práticas interventivas dialógicas e democráticas nas escolas, podendo favorecer o desenvolvimento moral dos estudantes. Diante do exposto, o problema que direciona a presente investigação é: “Quais as concepções de educadores sobre conflitos escolares e sobre os fundamentos e práticas de Justiça Restaurativa antes e após um curso de formação continuada?” O objetivo geral foi investigar as possíveis mudanças de concepções sobre Justiça Restaurativa e conflitos na escola após a participação em um curso de formação continuada destinado a docentes e gestores escolares. Os objetivos específicos do estudo são: 1. Caracterizar a Justiça Restaurativa por meio de seus fundamentos, práticas e possibilidades educativas; 2. Analisar as concepções iniciais e finais de gestores e professores sobre Justiça Restaurativa. 3. Analisar as concepções iniciais e finais de gestores e professores sobre conflitos escolares. Para tanto, adotou-se uma abordagem qualitativa do problema com objetivos exploratórios e cuja técnica utilizada foi o estudo de caso e a análise documental. O lócus da investigação foi o curso de... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The study assumes that conflicts are inherent in relationships and express human diversity. Often negatively understood in schools, conflicts are addressed through practices based on a concept of retributive justice that translates into repressive and punitive actions. We present Restorative Justice as a new paradigm that enables dialogical and democratic interventional practices in schools, which may favor the moral development of students. Given the above, the problem that directs the present investigation is: “What are the educators conceptions about school conflicts and restorative justice foundations and practices before and after a continuing education course?” The general objective was to investigate the possible changes in conceptions about Restorative Justice and school conflicts after participating in a continuing education course for teachers and school managers. The specific objectives of the study are: 1. Characterize restorative justice through its foundations, practices and educational possibilities; 2. Analyze the initial and final conceptions of managers and teachers about Restorative Justice. 3. Analyze the initial and final conceptions of managers and teachers about school conflicts. Therefore, a qualitative approach of the problem with exploratory objectives was adopted and the technique used was the case study and document analysis. The locus of the investigation was the university extension course “Restorative Justice through Intervention Projects”, offe... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

This thesis considers how ‘restorative justice’ has emerged as a legitimate response to crime. It presents the beginnings of a genealogical analysis of ‘restorative justice’ as it applies to criminal justice contexts. It comprises a ‘backwards-looking’ component, in which accepted historical accounts of ‘restorative justice’ are problematised, and a ‘forwards-looking’ component, in which a partial history of discourse of ‘restorative justice’ is presented. I conclude that these silenced discourses might be read as an incomplete and partial history of discourse of ‘restorative justice’. That is, ‘restorative justice’ ‘makes sense’ as an approach to criminal justice partly because of the credence of these discourses, upon which it relies, to some extent, for discursive legitimacy. These diverse and divergent discourses cast the ‘restorative justice’ project not as the unified and stable ‘movement’ as which it is usually portrayed, but as a fragmented and shifting phenomenon, comprised of a loose and heterogeneous assemblage of practices with variegated historical antecedents. Additionally, I conclude that some concerns raised by various scholars in the field – particularly in relation to the potential of ‘restorative practices’ to impact negatively on already marginalised and disadvantaged populations – are validated by this genealogy. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This paper is intended, first, to look at the deterrence versus compliance debate, and the various punishment principles that exist in securities regulation. Secondly, a brief overview of the experiences and complexities of securities regulation and sanctioning in Ontario and Canada will be presented. Third, I introduce and apply the “Responsive Regulation” model and the “enforcement pyramid” as posited by Ian Ayres and John Braithwaite to securities enforcement. I advocate for adoption of a three stage enforcement reform process that incorporates restorative justice through an enforcement pyramid and an “enforcement priority ladder”. The expert reports and statistics are used to develop the argument that the OSC is hindered in its enforcement mandate, ultimately, from a lack of sound enforcement guidelines. The end goal is to provide useful recommendations to the OSC and other Canadian securities regulators in achieving a more self-sustaining and investor focused securities regulatory environment.

This paper is intended, first, to look at the deterrence versus compliance debate, and the various punishment principles that exist in securities regulation. Secondly, a brief overview of the experiences and complexities of securities regulation and sanctioning in Ontario and Canada will be presented. Third, I introduce and apply the “Responsive Regulation” model and the “enforcement pyramid” as posited by Ian Ayres and John Braithwaite to securities enforcement. I advocate for adoption of a three stage enforcement reform process that incorporates restorative justice through an enforcement pyramid and an “enforcement priority ladder”. The expert reports and statistics are used to develop the argument that the OSC is hindered in its enforcement mandate, ultimately, from a lack of sound enforcement guidelines. The end goal is to provide useful recommendations to the OSC and other Canadian securities regulators in achieving a more self-sustaining and investor focused securities regulatory environment.