Restorative Conferencing and Harm Repair

Restorative Justice Conferencing:

Restorative justice conferencing is a process to identify, address, and to the extent possible offer repair and transformation harm that has occurred to the impacted party, the community in which the harm arose, and for the persons responsible for what took place. Through the restorative lens, we look for ways to minimize harm and maximize healing for all involved. The restorative conference may take place as an alternative to a conduct process, independently when an impacted party desires a restorative approach, or as part of the RJUW Pre-Sentencing Program.

The RJ Conference follows these three phases, intake, conference and agreement:

Intake Phase:

The intake phase describes the period prior to a restorative conference where the restorative justice facilitator meets with the responsible parties, the impacted parties, as well as their support people (generally friends, family members, specialists or mentors). In these meetings the facilitator builds rapport, describes the restorative process, and determines whether or not the situation will be suitable for a restorative conference. Suitability is determined by informed consent from all members involved, acceptance by the responsible party for their part in what took place, and minimal likelihood of causing further harm to any members of the conference.

After this process of informed consent and determining of eligibility, the RJ facilitator begins the process of story-telling, and discussions of impacts and harms surrounding what took place. The facilitator navigates through questions of accountability, and when discussing impacts, shifts the conversation to brainstorming ideas to repair harm. During the conference, the facilitator builds rapport and discusses assets with the responsible party, in order to help brainstorm meaningful and creative ways to repair harm. There are sometimes more than one intake meeting to ensure preparedness for the restorative conference and to determine that reasonable expectations will be met by the restorative process.

Conference Phase:

Provided the appropriateness of the case, the facilitator then schedules a restorative conference that includes:

restorative justice facilitator
restorative justice co-facilitator
responsible party
responsible party’s support person/people
impacted party
impacted party’s support person/people
community member volunteer (someone trained in RJ with no connection to the case that speaks to the community needs for repair)
It is also possible that law enforcement participate as an impacted party as well.

The restorative conference is a structured conversation that provides an opportunity for truth-telling, discussion of impacts, and collaboration to determine how to make things right. The responsible party begins by telling the conference what took place leading up to and following the incident. The responsible person shares what the experience has been like and how their actions have impacted the impacted party, the community, and themselves. The impacted party then goes through the same process, describing to the conference what took place and how they have been impacted. Following that, the community member does the same. At the end of this part of the conference, the responsible party is given a chance to respond to hearing the impacts on the other members of the conference. Once that is complete, the conference shifts into determining agreements for harm repair.

When the conference determines agreement items, each member (with exception of the RJ staff) offers ideas for repairing harm. These are some of the following qualities we look for as meaningful harm repair.

The items work directly towards repairing harms and impacts identified in the circle. Repair is offered:
For the impacted party
The community
The responsible party
Agreements are a meaningful undertaking, but do not cause further harm.
If a legal component is involved, an agreement items take roughly 20hrs to collectively complete.
At RJUW, we believe that agreements are most effective when they tap into the strength and assets of the party completing the agreements.

Agreement Phase:

During the agreement phase, the party responsible for repairing harm undertakes the task of completing the repair that the members of the restorative conference agreed upon. The restorative justice facilitator sets deadlines, offers guidance and helps the repairing party in navigating challenges that arise. The agreements have a completion date, generally between 60 and 90 days from the final conference taking place. Once the responsible party has completed the agreements, the case is considered resolved from the Dean of Students Office, and members of the initial conference are informed of the resolution.

Students walking on campus.

General Criteria for an RJUW Process:

The following criteria must be in place for a successful restorative process:

Consent from both responsible parties and harmed parties.
Responsible party accepts and acknowledges responsibility for their part in what took place.
Responsible parties strongly express a desire to repair harm, and there is a minimal likelihood of causing further harm to impacted parties.
Greatest impact when harmed parties and communities are able to be involved and seeking harm repair through this process.

Key Principles of Restorative Justice Conferencing:

Inclusivity: RJ involves all parties affected by an incident, including harmed parties, responsible parties, and the community, in the resolution process.
Accountability: Responsible parties take responsibility for their actions and work to repair the harm caused.
Healing and Support: RJ prioritizes the emotional and psychological well-being of victims and aims to restore their sense of safety and dignity.
Dialogue and Communication: Facilitated discussions promote understanding, empathy, and resolution.
Community Involvement: RJ engages the larger community to foster a sense of belonging and shared responsibility for harm repair and mutual care.