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From Retributive to Restorative: An Alternative Approach to Justice

Anjali Adukia,
Benjamin Feigenberg,
Fatemeh Momeni

School districts historically approached conflict-resolution from a zero-sum perspective: suspend students seen as disruptive and potentially harm them, or avoid suspensions and harm their classmates. Restorative practices (RP) -- focused on reparation and shared ownership of disciplinary justice -- are designed to avoid this trade-off by addressing undesirable behavior without imparting harm. This study examines Chicago Public Schools' adoption of RP. We identify decreased suspensions, improved school climate, and find no evidence of increased classroom disruption. We estimate a 19% decrease in arrests, including for violent offenses, with reduced arrests outside of school, providing evidence that RP substantively changed behavior.

Keywords
restorative practices, school discipline, human capital, restorative justice
Education level
K-12 Education
Topics
Student Well-Being and Mental Health
Tags
Student discipline,
Learning environments
Download 10/2023
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. (EdWorkingPaper: -854). Retrieved from Annenberg Institute at Brown University: https://doi.org/10.26300/k310-w337

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