Restorative Conferences: Developing Student Responsibility by Repairing the Harm to Victims and Restoring the University Community

Source: (2004) In David R. Karp and Thom Allena, eds., Restorative Justice on the College Campus: promoting student growth and responsibility, and reawakening the spirit of campus community. Springfield, Ill. : C.C. Thomas. Pp. 48-60.

Student misconduct and disciplinary problems have significance not only for the specific parties involved, but also for the entire campus or campus culture, asserts Thom Allena. Traditional justice and judicial affairs processes tend to promote a passive participation by the parties most affected by misconduct. Sanctions are usually punitive or retributive, and accountability amounts to “taking your punishment.â€? The victim is often more peripheral than integral to the process, and the fabric of the larger campus community is rarely strengthened by adjudication of the misconduct. In view of this situation, some universities, Allena says, are turning to more holistic principles and practices, such as restorative justice, with respect to student judicial affairs. Traditional approaches will likely remain in effect, and restorative justice will function more as a supplement and support to traditional practices. Yet restorative justice challenges certain assumptions of current approaches. Hence, with respect to accountability, responsibility, and the role of victims, Allena compares and contrasts restorative principles and practices, especially restorative conferences, with existing decision-making models in student judicial affairs.