Kay Pranis discusses a restorative process for how we can heal racial wounds based on an understanding victims' needs. Pranis is a peacemaking circles expert who was a featured presenter at the IIRP Latinoamérica's Conference this June.

IIRP Director of Continuing Education Keith Hickman participated in a panel, Restorative Justice Now, at the Citizen University National Conference: WHO IS US? Race, Citizenship, and America Now, March 18-19, 2016. The discussion revolves around reducing suspensions and discipline disparities for students of color in schools. Hickman widens the context by pointing out how restorative practices build social capital through participatory learning and decision-making for staff and students. These practices hold the potential to transcend school and isolated programs to affect the wider community.

Motivational Interviewing (MI) is a collaborative, restorative dialogue process that supports people in identifying their goals and achieving positive changes in their lives. Practitioners in a wide range of settings — including juvenile justice, drug and alcohol recovery, health care, education and the workplace — are employing MI to help people discover for themselves what stops them from making progress, so they can move forward.

“It’s all about being authoritative without being judgmental,” says Dawn Schantz, Motivational Interviewing consultant for juvenile justice in the state of Pennsylvania. Instead of giving advice, in MI, the focus is on building rapport, then engaging people in conversations centered on identifying their own intrinsic reasons for wanting to live differently.

Dawn Schantz, Motivational Interviewing consultant for juvenile justice in the state of Pennsylvania, explains how the skill of motivational interviewing can simultaneously hold people to high expectations while also providing high support for helping them internalize their own motivations for change.

Beyond Zero Tolerance documents the implementation of restorative practices in several schools in the U.S.A., the Netherlands, and Hull, England.

This video demonstrates the four quadrants of the Social Discipline Window in a humorous way. It was made by our friends at LCCS (Lutheran Community Care Services) in Singapore to teach a basic restorative practices concept and presented at the IIRP's 19th World Conference in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Watch a video of Peter Block’s presentation, “Change the Conversation, Change the Culture,” at the IIRP 19th World Conference, October 26, 2015, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA.

With irreverent humor and unmistakable love for humanity, Peter provides the basis and protocols for the Small Group methodology of community engagement, along with inspiration for the restorative movement.

“Get over this notion that there’s something wrong with me, or that those people need to change. How are we going to create an alternative to the world that we’ve inherited? To me, that’s restorative.” —Peter Block, Citizen of Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

The science of relationships and community.

All humans are hardwired to connect. Just as we need food, shelter and clothing, human beings also need strong and meaningful relationships to thrive.

Restorative practices is a transdisciplinary field of study that examines how to strengthen relationships between individuals and improve social connections within communities. Restorative practices are used in conflict resolution, creating dialogue, bridging gaps across divided groups, and building cultures where all members have a voice, work more effectively together, and become more innovative.

In schools, restorative practices positively impact student behavior and school climate. They create a sense of belonging, minimize harm, and support student learning while cultivating students who are better equipped to navigate complex challenges, self-regulate, manage conflict, and become better citizens. They uncover the root causes of conflict and create a space to facilitate complex conversations to minimize harm, repair relationships, and identify solutions.

In workplaces, restorative practices are used to build diverse and resilient teams through a focus on responsibility, respect, and inclusive participation that sparks creativity and innovative ways of thinking.

In communities, restorative practices are used to facilitate complex conversations that enable diverse populations to collaborate. They create resilient and inclusive communities by effectively addressing community health and well-being, relational harm, and cultural differences. This spurs systemic change by energizing community members, supporting bottom-up activities, and empowering individuals.

Restorative practices has a deep resonance with and has been influenced by a variety of collective philosophical and theoretical perspectives, including indigenous cultures and traditions from around the world. The IIRP seeks to respect and connect the integrity and heart of traditional practices with relevant interdisciplinary knowledge and a commitment to relationality and community across the globe.

The IIRP Graduate School is the world’s first accredited graduate school that specializes in studying the field of restorative practices, providing education, research, and collaborative application services.

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We hear about tragic incidents daily and wonder what we can do. IIRP Associate Professor Dr. Frida Rundell talks about how restorative practices can facilitate healing for people impacted by trauma and suffering.

Rhonda Richetta, principal of City Springs Elementary/Middle School, in Baltimore, Maryland, talks to SaferSanerSchools Instructor Steve Korr about the many ways restorative practices has benefited her school and life and tells some great stories.

“Good riddance to zero tolerance!” declared IIRP president John Bailie, Ph.D., opening the IIRP Symposium: Integrating School Climate Reform Efforts. At that, about 150 educators from across North America — superintendents, school climate and safety administrators, teachers, counselors and psychologists — cheered their approval.

They had come, along with a panel of six school climate reform leaders, to Bethlehem, PA, July 20-21, 2015, to explore how the wide array of programs created to replace zero tolerance could work together.

Students and teachers from Maine schools that are implementing the SaferSanerSchools Whole-School Change program as part of a 5-year RAND study speak about the positive impact in the classroom of circles and other informal restorative practices. These practices give everyone a chance to be heard.

During the IIRP Europe 2015 Conference in Budapest, Hungary, Romanian social worker Izabella Kasza discussed her work with a displaced Roma population in the city of Cluj. The group of 300 families lives and works in poor conditions near the city's landfill.

The IIRP hosted a symposium entitled, "Integrating School Climate Reform Efforts," on July 20-21, 2015, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA. The event featured a panel of national leaders in school climate reform. Below find presentations and recommended readings provided by each panelist.

Read a day-by-day summary of the symposium and highlights of comments from panelists, "Hope for the future of school climate reform," by IIRP Assistant Director for Communications Laura Mirsky.

Janet L. Fox Petersen, Ed.D., a school psychologist in Wichita, KS, Public Schools, talks about her experience at the Integrating School Climate Reform Efforts symposium:

Dr. Borbála Fellegi, PhD., director of Foresee Research Group, introduces her work exploring the benefits and challenges of conflict resolution processes in a Hungarian village. She will present on her research at the IIRP Europe Conference, "From Dream to Reality: Dawning of the New Social Science" in Budapest, Hungary, June 10-12, 2015. Learn more.

Miguel Tello, Representative for IIRP Latinoamérica, who was recently elected to the IIRP Board of Trustees, discusses how circles make sincere conversations possible and illustrates his point with an anecdote from a school in El Salvador.

IIRP Lecturer Elizabeth Smull, who presented on restorative practice at the International Bullying Prevention Association's annual conference, says she left feeling excited about how people from around the world are beginning to speak a common language about creating safety and community in schools.

Papers, slides and handouts from many of the breakout sessions held during the IIRP's 17th World Conference, held in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA, October 27 - 29, 2014, have now been posted on the International Institute for Restorative Practices' web site.

You may also watch the complete plenary sessions from the conference below.

Bullying is a great area of concern, especially in schools. In this video, IIRP Instructor Lee Rush talks about the way restorative practices dovetails with bullying prevention.

Higher Education

Higher-ed student conduct professionals are encouraged to attend the Association for Student Conduct Administration (ASCA) webinar on Restorative Justice in higher education, with the IIRP's Steve Korr, Michigan State University's Rick Shafer and Washington University in St. Louis's Molly Pierson.