Restorative justice is a community-based response to a specific incident of harm or conflict. Restorative justice brings the people who were directly impacted or harmed when something happened to have a conversation in order to address harm, needs, and decide on a way to move forward. A restorative justice approach means that healing and accountability--rather than punitive discipline or exclusion--form the path to justice.
Restorative justice comes from Black and Indigenous communities who created ways of addressing harm in their communities. Restorative Practices have been utilized for thousands of years (15,000+), practiced historically and presently. MYC did not create restorative justice.
A core belief of restorative justice is that everyone is valued, and that no one is disposable. Communities build, navigate, and strengthen through conflict by involving perspectives of those impacted and moving forward collectively. This way of being can be carried into all aspects of daily life.
In our program, we hold space for people to share their perspectives, needs, and reflections on a particular incident or challenging circumstance involving the youth referred to us. We use the Restorative Questions to help structure and guide the facilitated conversation. Our hope is that each person attending a restorative process can reflect on the factors that contributed to the situation, how to address harm, and how to move forward in a way that will be supportive to all involved.
The Restorative Questions include:
Some of our favorite resources about Restorative Justice:
Coming soon!
Restorative justice comes from Black and Indigenous communities who created ways of addressing harm in their communities. Restorative Practices have been utilized for thousands of years (15,000+), practiced historically and presently. MYC did not create restorative justice.
A core belief of restorative justice is that everyone is valued, and that no one is disposable. Communities build, navigate, and strengthen through conflict by involving perspectives of those impacted and moving forward collectively. This way of being can be carried into all aspects of daily life.
In our program, we hold space for people to share their perspectives, needs, and reflections on a particular incident or challenging circumstance involving the youth referred to us. We use the Restorative Questions to help structure and guide the facilitated conversation. Our hope is that each person attending a restorative process can reflect on the factors that contributed to the situation, how to address harm, and how to move forward in a way that will be supportive to all involved.
The Restorative Questions include:
- From your perspective, what happened?
- What were you thinking and feeling at the time?
- What have you been thinking or feeling since?
- Who was impacted by what happened, and how? What's been the hardest part of this for you?
- What are some of the respondent's strengths, interests, talents, and things they care about?
- What needs to be done to repair the harm and/or move forward?
Some of our favorite resources about Restorative Justice:
Coming soon!