Assessing the restorativeness of American school discipline programmes

Restorative justice principles have been lauded for their potential to decrease school-based disparities in discipline, especially due to the disproportionately negative impact on minority students and students with disabilities. Despite high levels of financial investment, little remains known about the quality of restorative justice programmes or the specific mechanism by which restorativeness is embedded into these approaches. Using the Olson and Sarver (2020) Restorative Index as a validation tool, this study assesses the level of restorativeness of 12 school-based restorative justice programmes. These programmes were identified and included on the basis of the fact that they were implemented within a U.S. school, sought to address a specific student behaviour or set of student behaviours through a restorative practice, and were subject to at least one outcomes study available in an English language journal, thesis/dissertation, or report. Findings indicate a mixed level of restorative quality between programmes, with outward engagement domains of restorativeness less likely to be evident in programmes when compared to more traditionally known elements of restorative justice. In addition, U.S. based school restorative justice programmes continue to rely on discipline-oriented practices despite claims of change. We discuss implications for both the Restorative Index and the restorative justice discipline.

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Work Title Assessing the restorativeness of American school discipline programmes
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Open Access
Creators
  1. Jeremy Olson
  2. Nadine M. Connell
  3. Nina Barbieri
  4. Diana Rodriguez
License In Copyright (Rights Reserved)
Work Type Article
Publisher
  1. International Journal of Restorative Justice [H Index 4; Impact factor .4, details by Exaly 10/31/22]
Publication Date March 21, 2024
Publisher Identifier (DOI)
  1. https://doi.org/10.5553/TIJRJ.000158
Deposited January 23, 2025

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  • Added Assess_restorativeness_of_Am_schools_Clean_revised-1.pdf
  • Added Creator Jeremy Olson
  • Added Creator Nadine M. Connell
  • Added Creator Nina Barbieri
  • Added Creator Diana Rodriguez
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