Administrative Intervention and Restorative Justice
Solving the Discipline Puzzle Series
Administrative Intervention and Restorative Justice
It makes no sense to use the criminal justice model first, before using what we were professionally prepared to do–teaching, mentoring, and restorative practices.
What is Restorative Justice? At its simplest level, restorative justice (adapted from the justice context to schools) is a set of principles and practices that promote respect, owner-ship or responsibility, and strengthening relationships. It asks us to shift how we think about justice by moving away from merely punishing individuals for misbehaviors to helping them to repair the harm that was done and prevent future occurrences of the behavior. Restorative Justice is now being talked about broadly as an alternative to the harsh “zero tolerance” policies that have surged in education and resulted in high rates of suspensions or expulsions of students for a wide variety of behaviors that are most often not violent or dangerous.
What is Administrative Intervention? While not new, Administrative Intervention (AI) is a restorative practice. AI has always advocated keeping students successfully in school and included the use of restitution or restoration since its first use in the late 1980s. AI views misbehavior as a prime learning opportunity, focusing on problem-solving, teaching and practicing alternative or replacement behaviors, and mending relationships with those harmed by the misbehavior. It is a protocol for administrators or designees responsible for office discipline referrals to effectively: • Assist staff to use office discipline referrals appropriately • De-escalate angry, defiant, intense behaviors, • Help the student demonstrate behaviors of respect needed for problem solving while in the office, • Review the referral problem and teach alternative behaviors to prevent future occurrences of that behavior, • Use effective consequences that are fair, predictable, keep students in school, and help the student to grow and change, and • Prepare the student for a successful return to the class with a plan for improved behavior, and having made amends to the referring staff or others and restitution for any damages or harm caused. Administrative Intervention strives to strengthen students while holding them accountable for their behavior. It turns discipline into something that is done with the child rather than to the child. It simultaneously increases comfort, certainty, and consistency for the adults who deal with tough kids. A comparison of traditional discipline approaches and Administrative Intervention follows:
[email protected] • 573.228.9397
© Creating Student Success • Revised 2014
Traditional Approaches
Administrative Intervention/ Restorative Practices
• Seeks to inflict pain or penalty for an offense, for breaking a rule
• Seeks to train for correction and respect for self and others
• Something hurtful must happen
• Something instructional must happen
• Seeks a short-‐term solution; immediate suppression of the problem behavior
• Concerned about future correct deeds; seeks a long-‐term solution
• Focuses on the rule broken, the problem behavior
• Focuses on the desired behaviors
• Emphasizes rules and immediate consequences
• Emphasizes the effects the behavior has on self and others
• Damages relationships
• Builds relationships
• Student feelings of fear, guilt, failure, resentment or anger
• Student feelings of stability
• Done to the student
• Done with the student
• Student is hurt
• Student is strengthened
• Reinforces the child’s failure identity and poor self-‐concept
• Strengthens the child’s self-‐concept, builds self-‐respect
• External locus of control
• Internal locus of control or self-‐control
• Often removes student from school
• Maintains the child in the learning environment
• Limited opportunities to express remorse and make amends
• Opportunity to express remorse, make amends, and restore relationships
* From: Downs & Black (1992), Administrative Intervention: A Discipline Handbook for Effective School Administrators. Longmont, CO: Sopris West
Creating Success for All Students
© Creating Student Success • All Rights Reserved 203 Blue Sky Court, Columbia, Missouri 65203 • Phone 573.228.9397 [email protected] • www.creatingstudentsuccess.com
Administrative Intervention and Restorative Justice
It makes no sense to use the criminal justice model first, before using what we were professionally prepared to do–teaching, mentoring, and restorative practices.
What is Restorative Justice? At its simplest level, restorative justice (adapted from the justice context to schools) is a set of principles and practices that promote respect, owner-ship or responsibility, and strengthening relationships. It asks us to shift how we think about justice by moving away from merely punishing individuals for misbehaviors to helping them to repair the harm that was done and prevent future occurrences of the behavior. Restorative Justice is now being talked about broadly as an alternative to the harsh “zero tolerance” policies that have surged in education and resulted in high rates of suspensions or expulsions of students for a wide variety of behaviors that are most often not violent or dangerous.
What is Administrative Intervention? While not new, Administrative Intervention (AI) is a restorative practice. AI has always advocated keeping students successfully in school and included the use of restitution or restoration since its first use in the late 1980s. AI views misbehavior as a prime learning opportunity, focusing on problem-solving, teaching and practicing alternative or replacement behaviors, and mending relationships with those harmed by the misbehavior. It is a protocol for administrators or designees responsible for office discipline referrals to effectively: • Assist staff to use office discipline referrals appropriately • De-escalate angry, defiant, intense behaviors, • Help the student demonstrate behaviors of respect needed for problem solving while in the office, • Review the referral problem and teach alternative behaviors to prevent future occurrences of that behavior, • Use effective consequences that are fair, predictable, keep students in school, and help the student to grow and change, and • Prepare the student for a successful return to the class with a plan for improved behavior, and having made amends to the referring staff or others and restitution for any damages or harm caused. Administrative Intervention strives to strengthen students while holding them accountable for their behavior. It turns discipline into something that is done with the child rather than to the child. It simultaneously increases comfort, certainty, and consistency for the adults who deal with tough kids. A comparison of traditional discipline approaches and Administrative Intervention follows:
[email protected] • 573.228.9397
© Creating Student Success • Revised 2014
Traditional Approaches
Administrative Intervention/ Restorative Practices
• Seeks to inflict pain or penalty for an offense, for breaking a rule
• Seeks to train for correction and respect for self and others
• Something hurtful must happen
• Something instructional must happen
• Seeks a short-‐term solution; immediate suppression of the problem behavior
• Concerned about future correct deeds; seeks a long-‐term solution
• Focuses on the rule broken, the problem behavior
• Focuses on the desired behaviors
• Emphasizes rules and immediate consequences
• Emphasizes the effects the behavior has on self and others
• Damages relationships
• Builds relationships
• Student feelings of fear, guilt, failure, resentment or anger
• Student feelings of stability
• Done to the student
• Done with the student
• Student is hurt
• Student is strengthened
• Reinforces the child’s failure identity and poor self-‐concept
• Strengthens the child’s self-‐concept, builds self-‐respect
• External locus of control
• Internal locus of control or self-‐control
• Often removes student from school
• Maintains the child in the learning environment
• Limited opportunities to express remorse and make amends
• Opportunity to express remorse, make amends, and restore relationships
* From: Downs & Black (1992), Administrative Intervention: A Discipline Handbook for Effective School Administrators. Longmont, CO: Sopris West
Creating Success for All Students
© Creating Student Success • All Rights Reserved 203 Blue Sky Court, Columbia, Missouri 65203 • Phone 573.228.9397 [email protected] • www.creatingstudentsuccess.com
