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From Retributive to Restorative: An Alternative Approach to Justice in Schools

Anjali Adukia,
Benjamin Feigenberg,
Fatemeh Momeni

School districts historically approached conflict-resolution from the perspective that suspending disruptive students was necessary to protect their classmates, even if this caused harm to perceived offenders. Restorative practices (RP) – focused on reparation, accountability, and shared ownership of disciplinary justice – are designed to address undesirable behavior without harming students. We study Chicago Public Schools’ adoption of RP and find that suspensions and arrests decreased, driven by effects for Black students. We find null effects on test-score value added, ruling out meaningful average declines. We estimate a 15% decrease in out-of-school arrests, consistent with RP substantively changing student behavior.

Keywords
restorative practices, school discipline, human capital, restorative justice
Education level
K-12 Education
Topics
Student Well-Being
Tags
Absenteeism,
Counseling,
Culturally responsive schooling,
Curriculum,
Elementary schools,
High schools,
Human capital,
Juvenile justice,
Learning environments,
School climate and culture,
School districts,
School reform,
Social and emotional learning,
Student discipline,
Student well-being
Download 02/2025
Document Object Identifier (DOI)
10.26300/k310-w337
EdWorkingPaper suggested citation:
Adukia, Anjali, Benjamin Feigenberg, and Fatemeh Momeni. (). From Retributive to Restorative: An Alternative Approach to Justice in Schools. (EdWorkingPaper: -854). Retrieved from Annenberg Institute at Brown University: https://doi.org/10.26300/k310-w337

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