Restorative Practice

Content

Restorative practice is a way of responding to harm that focuses on repairing relationships and making things right, rather than only assigning blame and punishment. It asks a different set of questions: who was harmed, what do they need, and whose job is it to make it right. Why it matters here. Traditional discipline often asks only what rule was broken and what is the penalty. That can leave the harmed person unheard and the underlying problem unsolved. Restorative practice brings the people affected into the response, which tends to build trust instead of fear. The core questions. • What happened, and who has been affected? • What do the people harmed need to feel made whole? • What does the person who caused harm need in order to take responsibility and repair it? • What does the group need to keep it from happening again? In everyday work. You do not need a formal process to work restoratively. After a conflict or a mistake, you can focus the conversation on impact and repair rather than blame, give the harmed person real voice, and agree on a concrete way to make it right. A few cautions. Restorative practice is not about pressuring someone to forgive, and it is not a substitute for accountability when serious harm or safety is involved. Some situations still call for formal processes. The goal is not to avoid accountability, but to make accountability something that heals rather than only punishes.

Ask: What happened, and who has been affected?

Ask: What do the people harmed need to feel made whole?

Ask: What does the person who caused harm need in order to take responsibility and repair it?

Ask: What does the group need to keep it from happening again?

Choose the relevant guidance, verify fit and currency, and apply it to the work product using Restorative Practice.

Confirm the current purpose, audience, and decision authority before using Restorative Practice to choose the relevant guidance, verify fit and currency, and apply it to the work product.

Choose the sections of Restorative Practice that match the situation; do not apply unrelated guidance as a blanket rule.

For all staff, use Restorative Practice to choose the relevant guidance, verify fit and currency, and apply it to the work product; use the guidance in the immediate task, check impact and access, and ask for help when authority is unclear. Start by ask: What happened, and who has been affected?

This resource is not clinical care, crisis response, or a substitute for a trained practitioner when the situation requires one.

Do not replace official legal, policy, clinical, supervisory, program, or Tribal authority.

Do not infer an individual's identity, preferences, needs, or experience from group-level information.

State uncertainty, use current authoritative sources, and escalate when the decision exceeds the user's role.

Restorative practice is a way of responding to harm that focuses on repairing relationships and making things right, rather than only assigning blame and punishment. It asks a different set of questions: who was harmed, what do they need, and whose job is it to make it right. Step 1. Ask: What happened, and who has been affected? Step 2. Ask: What do the people harmed need to feel made whole? Step 3. Ask: What does the person who caused harm need in order to take responsibility and repair it? Step 4. Ask: What does the group need to keep it from happening again? Step 5. Choose the relevant guidance, verify fit and currency, and apply it to the work product using Restorative Practice. Step 6. Confirm the current purpose, audience, and decision authority before using Restorative Practice to choose the relevant guidance, verify fit and currency, and apply it to the work product. Step 7. Choose the sections of Restorative Practice that match the situation; do not apply unrelated guidance as a blanket rule.