The Fairness Committee: Restorative justice in a small urban public high school.

Source: (2013) The Prevention Researcher. 20(1):7-10.

This article focuses on one school, Humanities Preparatory Academy (Prep), a small New York City public high school that uses a restorative justice model called the Fairness Committee (Fairness) to address community norm violations. It is based on a two-year ethnographic study conducted between 2006 and 2008 that examined how both current and former students made meaning of their experience at this school that emphasizes democratic and participatory practices. Drawing on data collected through participant observation at the school, interviews with former and current students, and surveys, the article highlights youth experiences to illuminate the ways that Fairness contributes to their overall school experience. It specifically describes how the Fairness works in the school, and captures participants’ responses to this process. (excerpt)