Restorative Justice on Campus? A Proposal

Today there’s a nice section (tagged at left under del.icio.us) in the NYT with various articles about trends in college and university life. One aspect they did not mention is the student code of conduct: how do we respond when students go a bit, or a lot, off the rails? As part of my work in training for mission leadership, I recently wrote up an analysis (called a “VOTER” analysis, for Vision, Obligations, Tendencies (human needs and wishes), Environmental factors, and Rules/Roles of our university Code of Conduct, and how it might be enhanced with practices and principles of “restorative justice.” Here is a small part of what I wrote:

We are a Catholic university, founded and sponsored by the Sisters of St. Joseph (CSJ). At the close of Vatican 2, the Sisters of St. Joseph returned to their roots and developed a “consensus statement” that reflected their understanding of their calling and charism. A portion of that statement follows:

The Sister of Saint Joseph moves always towards profound love of God and love of neighbor without distinction, from whom she does not separate herself and for whom, in the following of Christ, she works in order to achieve unity of neighbor with neighbor and neighbor with God.

We would like to bring our student disciplinary procedures into closer alignment with our mission and values (and, in particular, with the CSJ commitment to “right relationship”). Might we do so by incorporating principles and practices of restorative justice?

The Avila University disciplinary practice as it now exists is patterned on the criminal justice system. Types of offenses, or prohibited conduct, are named; procedures are set up for reporting and investigating offenses; and there is a system of consequences, or punishments, for proven violations. Punishment options begin at the level of a “warning,” and include, in very serious cases, the campus equivalent of a “death penalty” (expulsion).

Restorative Justice is described online in an excellent website at: http://www.restorativejustice.org). The following is taken from that website:

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Practices and principles of restorative justice “acknowledge that crime causes injury to people and communities, [and] it insists that justice repair those injuries and that the parties be permitted to participate in that process… The restorative process of involving all parties—often in face-to-face meetings—is a powerful way of addressing not only the material and physical injuries caused by crime, but the social, psychological and relational injuries as well … Restorative programmes are characterized by four key values: Encounter: Create opportunities for victims, offenders and community members who want to do so to meet to discuss the crime and its aftermath; Amends: Expect offenders to take steps to repair the harm they have caused; Reintegration: Seek to restore victims and offenders to whole, contributing members of society; Inclusion: Provide opportunities for parties with a stake in a specific crime to participate in its resolution.
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What if we added certain elements to our disciplinary process, such as non-adversarial encounters between individuals who are harmed by student misconduct, and the students accused of the misconduct? Many have found that encounters of this sort can be healing for all participants. We could employ other elements as well, such as greater use of community service requirements for those adjudged to have committed violations, and restitution (of various sorts) required to be made to those who have been harmed.

VOTER ANALYSIS

Vision: What is the vision (of God, of humanity, of community, of sin) revealed by these practices?

Vision of God: Our current practice may reflect a vision of a God of “justice” who requires that people be punished for their transgressions. Restorative Justice practices may better reflect a vision of a God who wants us to be made whole, more than wanting us to be hurt and/or punished.

Vision of humanity: We are building the reign of God, which means that the human community is at the same time truly one, and also struggling to become one. We are all in one fallen world together, and we rise and fall together. Practices of Restorative Justice more closely match that vision than do practices that tend to single out, isolate, and even banish individuals.

Obligation: What obligations are the people involved in the practice feeling, or responding to?

We have an obligation to protect our students and our learning environment; we perceive a need to “correct” wrongdoing; and we are called to recognize a need to heal the (entire) community. Our current practices emphasize protection and correction, but under-emphasize healing.

Tendencies and Human Needs: what psychological or emotional needs, habits, and patterns are involved in, or at play in the situation?

We tend to feel a need, or have a desire, for retribution or punishment. We also have a need to live in harmonious and inclusive communities. Our current practices probably over-emphasis the “retribution and punishment” tendencies; restorative justice practices could provide a greater emphasis on community-building and wholeness. Our Christian concepts of reconciliation and redemption are also highly pertinent to this analysis. One of our seven sacraments, the practice of Reconciliation, brings into our lives, over and over again, our fundamental belief that each of us is always invited to, and given the choice to be brought into harmony, one-ness, and community.

Environment: We are a Catholic university, founded and sponsored by the Sisters of St. Joseph. All of our faculty, staff, and students are asked to uphold the values of our University. A highly influential source of our values is the Consensus Statement of the Sisters of St. Joseph. Practices of Restorative Justice, in that they strongly emphasize community wholeness, appear to be in excellent alignment with our values and the Consensus Statement (unity of neighbor with neighbor). The Consensus Statement calls us to embody a vision of unity, which in turn reflects the revolutionary practices of Jesus, who “taught by word and example that everyone would be welcome in his community, and that his community should care about everyone… [including] ‘tax collectors and sinners’.”

We are also a university, an academic institution, within which students are in some ways treated as if they are not fully adult (regardless of their age). We promise them a protected learning environment. Our current practices emphasize this need for orderliness and protection; however, principles of Restorative Justice practices also address the need for protection of “victims” and environment, while also looking to the role that the offender may take in restoring the wholeness that s/he may have disturbed.

Rules and Roles: What are the spoken and unspoken rules and roles?

In our current system, victims of offenses are treated primarily as information-givers, with little attention being paid to making them whole; and offenders are treated as persons who should be punished, or at least warned, with little attention being paid to restoring them to full and harmonious membership in the community. Principles and practices of Restorative Justice may be helpful in making sure that both victims and offenders are afforded full opportunity to be integrated, or re-integrated, into the community.

Jesus taught and modeled trust in God and God’s unconditional love for us all. This means that God’s love for us is not, and our love for each other should not be, conditional on “good behavior.” The story of the Prodigal makes this very clear for us. Those within our midst who transgress are not, for that reason, to be banished from our midst, but in every way possible to be included and re-integrated into the community. Principles and practices of Restorative Justice appear to be highly consistent with the Consensus Statement of the Sisters of St. Joseph (and more generally with the principles just mentioned).