Restorative Justice P3

Philosophy, Principles, and Practices

Michigan Department of EducationSegment 7: Circle Process

1. Introduce the Circle Process

2. Show an example of how a restorative circle can be used to resolve common situations in schools.

3. Engage in a circle role play.

NOTE: This is a longer session than othersin this training, so please review its content and plan accordingly. You may want to break it into two units if you want to engage in the role plays at the end.

Training Goals

You must answer YES to the following questions to successfully use the formal restorative justice (RJ) interventions.

Are at least some of those harmed willing to talk with other affected parties to resolve the issue? (Willing participation is ESSENTIAL!)

Have any of those who caused harm taken responsibility for their actions, and are they interested in making things right?

If criminal charges are pending, do not schedule the restorative circle until after the case has gone

through the justice system.

Restorative Circle and Conference Preconditions

Can you keep everyone physically and emotionally safe throughout the process and treat all parties with equal respect?

As you prepare and learn about the nature of the incident, be sure you feel comfortable addressing this situation restoratively and that you can feel and act completely neutral.

If you cannot feel confident that you can hold all participants safely in circle, consider co-facilitating with someone who has experience in this area or finding another facilitator who can.

Some people, for example, have experience counseling survivors of sexual violence and would feel comfortable facilitating a conference on this issue, but many do not.

Other situations that can be considered risky include mental health problems and/or low cognitive function

of one or more participants, or (as noted previously) domestic violence and severe bullying.

Other Considerations

“Circles intentionally create a sacred space that lifts barriers between people,

opening fresh possibilities for connection, collaboration and mutual understanding.

The process works because it brings people together in a way that allows them to see

one another as human beings and to talk about what matters.”

--Kay Pranis The Little Book of Circle Processes: A New Approach to

Peacemaking

How Circles Work

The Circles Process Described as Medicine Wheel

Solution How do we make things right? What must happen for all to move forward? Closing

Introduction Meet as human beings Use ritual to establish safe space.

Issues• What happened?• Who was affected and how?

Trust Building• Share traits, values or personal contribution• Establish respect for each other.

Developed by Kay Pranis

Restorative Circles Training March 2009

Native American cultures use the Medicine Wheel (previous slide) to represent a variety of aspects of life from the seasons and winds to the ages of human life.

Kay Pranis lays out the four essential stages of a conflict resolution circle in this medicine wheel, beginning in the yellow quadrant with introductions then moves into Trust building (red).

Once all have met as human beings and established trust in each other and the process, participants can then discuss the incident/conflict that brings them together (the gray/black quadrant titled “Issues”).

Finally, once they have discussed the issue and heard everyone’s story and perspective, participants move into

the “Solution” phase (white quadrant).

The Circles Process Described as Medicine Wheel

This phase is essential to help prepare participants work together constructively toward a resolution of the conflict or incident of harm.

Use the steps outlined in the following slide to set the stage for success and to help participants engage safely and fully in the circle.

Introduction Phase

Introduction

• Meet as human beings.

• Use ritual to establish safe space.

Gather participants in a circle so they are all at the same level (height) and facing into the center. All can see and hear each other and no one is left out, hiding behind a barrier, using technology or writing.

There are many exercises for introductions! Some options include:o Introduce selves and say why they are in circle;o Introduce selves and tell others one thing no one in

the circle knows about them;o Introduce selves and tell others what keeps them

coming back to school every day;o Introduce selves and tell others one important

person they would like to honor by imagining they are in circle with them.

Meet as Human Beings

Establish ground rules. Two fundamental rules are: treat each other with respect and we use a talking piece. Include more if needed for the situation.

Introduce talking piece and imbue it with meaning to help participants speak only when they are holding it. When they are not holding the talking piece it’s their turn to listen.

Facilitator will ask one question then will hand talking piece to person next to him/her. Each participant answers the same question in turn then passes the talking piece to his/her neighbor. (No handing across the circle or changing the question without full agreement.)

Anyone has the right to pass if s/he chooses not to speak when the talking piece comes to him/her. Just

silently pass it on to the next person.

Use Ritual to Establish Safe Space

“The feather provides a wonderful metaphor for students. If the tines of the feather are ruffled, and messed up the bird cannot fly. Just like if there is hurting in a classroom or the students are not working together with their teacher, they cannot learn. But if the tines are in order, smooth, and going upward, then the bird can fly all the way from the Arctic Circle to Antarctica. As the feather goes around the Circle students can ruffle it or stroke it to smooth it out. This is a metaphor for how they can talk and put a class back together.” (p.78)

Other good choices for talking pieces include Fidgits, soft stress balls, small awards or statues, stuffed animals, drift wood, shells, a small piece of sports equipment or anything

Choosing an Existing Talking Piece

Nancy Reistenberg, Circle in the Square, pp. 78, 80-81

Participants are often enduring a mix of negative emotions at this phase—anger, fear, shame, uncertainty. By helping them establish trust in the process and in each other they will see each other as human and can more easily listen to and begin to work with each other.

Use some of the suggested activities on the next slide to help build trust and foster participants’ success.

Trust Building Phase

Trust Building

• Share traits, values or personal contribution

• Establish respect for each other.

Important step! Be sure to give everyone a chance to share/participate in this if they choose.

Possible activities to build trust:◦ Introduce selves and say one thing they admire

about the person next to/across from them;◦ Introduce selves and share one trait or value they

bring to this circle to help work toward resolution; ◦ Share a hope or goal for today’s circle.

These exercises help foster participants’ working together as they explore and address

the situation of misconduct and/or conflict.

Trust Building Exercises

In this video, watch how Mr. Tims prepares the circle to help Charlie and Tony get to know each other better so they can participate more effectively.

Remember that he has already completed all the pre-conferencing steps. Based on those conversations, Mr. Tims selects meaningful center symbols, opening exercise and talking piece to use.

He also prepares the questions and decides on the order for asking them in circle.

Laying the Foundation for Success

Once you have laid the foundation for a safe and constructive circle and helped participants establish trust in the process and in each other, you are ready to get into the meat of the circle.

This phase is designed to get a common understanding of:◦ What happened to create

the need for the circle? and◦ Where is the harm

participants must heal in order to resolve the situation?

Issues Phase

Issues

• What happened?

• Who was affected and how?

Ask as many questions as you need to help the group come to consensus on determining what happened and identifying

the harm. For more question ideas consider the affective questions on the next slides.

What Happened? What were you thinking

at the time? What have you thought

about since? Can you think of anything

you could have done differently?

How can you make things right?

Affective Questions From the IIRP’s Restorative Practices Handbook Page

16

When ChallengingNegative Behavior

To Help Those Affected

What Happened? What did you think when you

realized what happened? What has been the hardest

thing for you? What would you like to see

from today’s circle? How can we make things

right? Do you accept ______’s

apology?

Once they have a common understanding of what happened and who was affected and how, the group decides what steps they will take to heal the harm and make sure the situation doesn’t happen again.

When developing an agreement, all participants must concur on each element of the agreement or it cannot be written into the final draft. If one or two people disagree on a condition or other element, the entire group must discuss possible alternative options until everyone agrees.

The Solutions Phase

Solution

How do we make things right?

What must happen for all to move forward?

Closing

Often the closing is a signing ceremony followed by light refreshments all participants share.

When we last saw Charlie and Tony, they were getting ready to engage in circle to address their hallway collision. Watch this new episode that takes us through their circle with them.

As you watch the circle between Tony and Charlie, watch how Mr. Tims uses the power of the circle to help the students resolve their situation. Pay special attention to:◦ The questions asked;◦ How the students responded to the facilitator and to

each other;◦ How Mr. Tims addressed some issues that could have

derailed the circle—mandated reporter status, confidentiality, others.

Did you accurately predict whether Charlie and Tony could resolve this using RJ?

The Saga Continues

The best way for you to build familiarity with the circle process is to use it. Role playing is the easiest and best way to get a sense of how it feels to participate in circle, and to develop your comfort level with facilitating from setting the conditions through signing the agreement.

If you are taking this training with others, break into groups of 5 (4 participants and 1 facilitator) to work through the next two slides in circle. Assume the facilitator has already done the pre-conferencing work.

If you are following this training alone, use the slides as case studies and try to imagine what each person is

experiencing in this situation and how they might participate in this circle.

Role Plays!!

Before you begin asking questions in circle, consider who you want to ask first. You will probably want to choose the person who is most likely to respond in a way that moves the discussion forward. Think of who that might be and seat him/her next to you so you can hand him/her the talking piece first.

Send the talking piece completely around the circle for each question rather than handing the talking piece from person to person out of order. This gives everyone a voice in addressing the issue and answering each question. It also helps keep the entire group engaged in developing the solution.

Remember consensus in developing the agreement and keep track of your time. If you must set a limit, tell everyone you will end circle after ___ minutes even if they haven’t reached

an agreement yet.

Facilitator, Before you Begin . . .

Role Play – Fire Alarm A fire alarm results in the middle school being evacuated.

Two fire trucks, an ambulance, and two police cars respond before it becomes clear this is a false alarm.

The principal’s office receives a tip from a teacher that Drew Abbey, a student at the school, may have pulled the fire alarm on a dare made by friends.

Upon questioning, Drew initially denies having pulled the alarm, but eventually admits to doing so while one friend, Syd Lansing, watched to verify.

The principal calls both Drew’s and Syd’s parents and sends both students home with the understanding that discipline, which has yet to be determined, is certain to follow.

The administrative team decides to address this with a restorative circle.

Role Play - Graffiti Leslie Rubner, a freshman, reports to the principal’s

office that a Swastika is written on her locker.

Security video shows Johnny Schwartz, a class clown and football player, drawing the symbol and laughing with two other students.

The police are called to take pictures of the graffiti before custodian, Rachel Smith, wipes the locker clean.

The next day, Leslie’s parents call to find out what the school is doing to keep their daughter safe. They explain they do not want this incident public in the courts, but want Johnny to learn from this.

In the days that follow, a number of other parents call with similar concerns.

Circle Closing If you are taking this training alone, skip to the bolded questions at the

bottom of this slide and think about their answers. If you are in a group, arrange your chairs in a circle with everyone facing into the center.

Taking turns so that only one person speaks at a time, go around the circle so that each person answers the first question listed in bold below.

Once everyone has answered the first question, follow the same process to answer the remaining two questions. Keep track of the time you have—if necessary apply time limits to each answer so everyone has the same amount of time to speak.

◦ How did you feel as you played your part in this restorative circle?

◦ Provide feedback to your facilitator on how well s/he showed respect for all, followed the circle stages, brought groups to consensus.

◦ Share your thought about whether RJ is the best way to address this form of misconduct, or whether it should go through the

traditional discipline process.