Source: (2006) Paper from “The Next Step: Developing Restorative Communities, Part 2,” the IIRP’s 8th International Conference on Conferencing, Circles and other Restorative Practices, October 18-20, 2006, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA.
To change behaviour we need to provide a process to engage people in a meaningful dialogue,
in a climate where it is okay to talk about feelings.
Restorative practices provide an opportunity for those who have been affected by an incident
to come together to share their feelings, describe how they were affected and develop a plan
to repair the harm done. Meetings ( also called conferences ) are organised which aim to
reject deviant behaviours so that pupils don’t normalise these actions.
These conferences are learning experiences, by which the offender is confronted with the
emotional testimonies of the victims, will provide insight on the harm done, and is the best
guarantee that deviant behaviour will not happen again in the future. (excerpt)
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