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Restorative Circles

Restorative Circles

Conflict resolution for communities using reflective listening and restorative justice
A restorative circle is a systemic approach to resolving conflict that is used to restore trust, dignity and respect within organisations and communities, and to agree actions for moving forwards without assigning blame or punishment.

What is
Restorative Circles
about ?

What is
Restorative Circles
about ?
What is this Method about ?

Everyone involved gets a chance to be heard for what is important to them, with the process being guided through past, present and future.
In the present section, participants focus on how they feel impacted by the event that took place.
In the past section, they reflect on the intentions behind what was said or done.
The future section is for making agreements and offering next steps to restore harmony.
To convey understanding and build empathy, the circle follows the following format:

  1. person A speaks to person B
  2. person B then reflects back what they heard person A say - the facilitator(s) may need to remind person B to hold back their own thoughts and reactions, and try to focus only on repeating what they heard, reassuring them that they will get a chance to speak afterwards.
  3. Person A then confirms whether person B’s reflection was accurate and may clarify details and add anything else that they wish to convey at this stage.
  4. When person A indicates they’ve been heard for what they were trying to express, someone else takes a turn to speak, and a new person takes the role of listener.

Each speaker shares one aspect of their experience at a time rather than voicing everything they want to at once. Participants continue to take turns to speak until the facilitator(s) are confident that meaning has been exchanged, and that participants have a new understanding of each others’ perspective. The facilitator(s) guide the process, and may intervene at times if they perceive something important is not being picked up on.

When and why is this Method used ?

Restorative circles are designed to support mutual understanding, and are focused on healing and moving forward, rather than blame and punishment. Restorative circles are community-owned practices based on the principles of restorative justice. They can be equally effective to restore harm following crime (when there is a victim-perpetrator dynamic) and to repair relationships damaged by inter-personal conflict, (when two or more parties feel equally wronged by the other). In schools, restorative circles are often used as an alternative disciplinary strategy.

Where does this Method come from ?
Original Source Details
Restorative Circles were developed by Dominic Barter, arising from his work with local teenagers in the gang-controlled favelas (slums) of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in the mid 1990s. Dominic Barter’s work has since influenced both federal and state justice policy throughout Brazil. Systems based on similar principles of restorative justice have been traditionally used by indigenous communities throughout the world.
Additional Questions about the Method
What is restorative justice?
Restorative Justice is an alternative to the conventional retributive justice systems on which court and prison systems are based. It involves all stakeholders, by providing victims with the opportunity to meet or communicate with the offender to describe and explain exactly how the crime has affected them.
Ken Wilber

Who are restorative circles suitable for?

Audience

Is participant experience relevant for Restorative Circles ?

It's okay if participants haven't seen the inside of a classroom in years

Audience description for Restorative Circles

Restorative circles can be used within community groups, communities of practice, organisations, schools, and even federal and state judicial systems, or anywhere that conflict manifests.
The method works best if it is embedded within a community or organisation, and if there is systemic agreement that any agreed outcomes of the process will be supported by the system (when applied in schools, for instance, it helps if there is agreement beforehand that the school authorities will abide by any decisions made within the circle). Restorative circles should always be optional - it should never be a requirement of any institution that individuals take part.
There is no hierarchy within the circle, and each participant speaks as an equal, not as a boss/employee, teacher/student, or whatever their role may be outside of the circle.

Other prerequisites for participants

A willingness to attend, and to follow the process (this involves an agreement to reflect back another participant’s viewpoint when asked, and to refrain from expressing their own opinions out of turn) It is recommended that participants complete a pre-circle with the facilitator before the main circle.

Additional Questions

Who can call a restorative circle?

Conflicts usually carry a sense (often on both ‘sides’) that someone has been ‘wronged’. Although the tension is often strongest between two or more individuals, the events that lead to the issue arising often involve more than those ‘in conflict’. Anyone involved may request a restorative circle.

Requirements

Requirements
Experience level of the facilitator
Special trainer-training is mandatory
Number of Facilitators :  
1 or 2
How Stationary
Stationary necessary, at least in parts
Location requirements

Ideally a neutral, comfortable and private setting where participants are unlikely to be interrupted or overheard (if meeting online, each participant should try to make sure their location meets these conditions, and that they have a stable internet connection).

Run Through

Run Through
Prep Work (excluding materials)

Facilitator(s) first need to establish a time and venue that suits all participants (https://www.when2meet.com/ is a useful tool for establishing group availability - remember to include the timezone if participants are living in different countries). For online restorative circles, Zoom, or alternative video conferencing platforms, provide adequate meeting space - facilitators will need access to either a pro Zoom account, or equivalent which allows meetings that are not time limited. The link should be shared with all participants in advance of the circle.

Pre Exercise
Post Exercise

Post-circle

A post-circle takes place following an adequate amount of time for the agreed actions to be carried out. This could be a week, or several weeks, depending on the nature of the group and the action plan. The facilitator reconvenes with all participants to check if the actions have taken place, if any support is needed in order to do so, and how everyone is now in relation to the restorative circle.
Restorative Circles
project

project

IN WHICH THIS method WAS DEVELOPED
 
 
 
BLAST
BLAST
ERASMUS +

ERASMUS +

Co-funded by the Erasmus+ Program of the European Union. Find more information about the program and its goals here: https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/.

Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.

Creative Commons license:

CC-BY-SA You are free to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, even for commercial purposes with mention of the source: Transformation Hosts International, www. hostingtransformation.eu. If you remix, adapt, or build upon the material, you must license the modified material under identical terms.

Restorative Circles
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