Restorative justice circles are a highly structured community-based process that brings people together to discuss and address harmful behaviors. Restorative Justice Circles are rooted in Indigenous practices like those of the Anishinaabek, with “Restorative Justice” being a philosophy of justice and a specific set of practices that brings together those who experienced harm with those who caused harm to “make things right.”
OSCR recognizes that each situation is different, and the interests and needs of a group are unique. OSCR facilitators will work with you to design and/or identify which type of circle may be the most effective for your group.
What are the benefits of using a Restorative Justice Circle?
- In instances where harm has occurred, rather than focusing on what policies have been broken, restorative justice circles instead help identify who has been hurt and what must be done to repair the harm.
- In circles where no direct harm has occurred, circle participants can engage in a structured conversation with others to learn, share, heal, and/or bond through dialogue.
- Restorative Justice processes help people who have caused harm (if such persons exist in the situation) and restore their standing in their communities and repair any relationships that were damaged by their actions.
- Restorative Justice processes provide Impacted Participants a safe, facilitated space to share their perspective, seek understanding, and identify how they have been impacted. In cases where harm has occurred, impacted participants play an active part in deciding what they need to move on and how this can be met.
- Restorative Justice processes allow Supporting Participants to describe more holistically the impact of the harm from their perspective.
- Restorative Circles also allow for absent participants to contribute their voices through impact statements that may be shared in the process on their behalf in absentia.
Please explore the various tabs below to learn more about the 5 Restorative Justice Circles OSCR offers:
- Talking: This process explores a topic from different perspectives, which may be helpful in situations of different opinions. For example political views coming together.
- Understanding: This process develops a more complete picture of a situation, which is most helpful for conflicts surrounding an event or incident. For example, bringing together a team with different perspectives on something that happened to seek clarity.
- Healing: This process gives space for participants to share the pain that has been experienced by an event or larger world. For example, responding to a campus event or processing Roe v Wade
- Community Building: This process creates bonds and relationships, which can be helpful for organizations and campus groups in developing rapport and shared goals and values. For example, an organization developing shared goals/values or getting to know each other
- Conflict: This process brings together disputing parties to resolve differences, which is helpful in situations where a concrete solution is the most desired outcome. For example, student organization, advisor/student or departmental wide conflicts