Paige Woodall

February 18, 2016

SPED 442
FAST FACTS 2:
Topic: Restorative justice
Restorative Justice is a victim-centered response to crime that offers opportunities
for those directly affected by the offense to be involved in responding to the harm caused
by the crime. Restorative justice is often seen implemented with those who committed a
crime, in order to push them to understand the wrong that he or she has caused as an
attempt to renew the relationship (Rudd, 2014). Restorative justice works to restore harm
that has been done, mend relationships, addresses to the needs of both the victim and
offender, and pushes to empower the community to respond to future crimes. This
approach disregards the use of punishment and focuses solely on positive healing, and is
voluntary to all who participate. When it comes to children with EBD, often a result of
their disability is to either act aggressively towards others, or to be emotionally shut
down and guarded from sharing their feelings. Instead of letting those behaviors out
physically or holding them all in and keeping them to oneself, restorative justice practices
the concept of accepting responsibility for your actions and expressing your thoughts and
feelings with others in order to mend relationships that have been/ could be strained. This
would be especially effective in schools for students with EBD because it allows for a
safe environment where students would know they are welcomed to be vulnerable, and
comfortable with being open and honest with those around them (Restorative, 2006). This
intervention is aimed at students with behavior problems in attempt to raise their social
and emotional skills. Research shows that after restorative justice interventions, students
are better able to control their emotions and behaviors towards their peers that they
become frustrated with. One form of restorative justice that has proven to be helpful is to

Paige Woodall
February 18, 2016
SPED 442
role-play different disciplinary scenarios and situations, to provide students with various
opportunities to practice how they could appropriately handle different situations. This
improved form of tolerance and ability to handle social situations has proved to be
effective in helping students to remain in the classroom without being disruptive (Epstein,
1996). Although I did not find that restorative justice is specifically implemented with
one particular type of EBD, I feel that it would be an effective intervention to use with
any disorders that have an effect on family, peer, or community relationships.
After learning about restorative justice, I am more equipped and informed on the
different resources that are available to students to help work on social and emotional
skills as well as relationships. Being informed on restorative justice and how it can be
used is helpful in reminding me how important it is to always be advocating for my
students and looking for different resources that I can provide them with in order to be
successful, and I can definitely see restorative justice being an extremely effective
resource for students with EBD.

Paige Woodall
February 18, 2016
SPED 442
References:
1. Epstein. (1996). Restorative Justice. Retrieved February 15, 2016, from
http://www.educationvillage.org.uk/Restorative Justice.asp
2. Restorative Justice and People with Developmental Disabilities. (2006). Retrieved
February 15, 2016, from
http://www.inclusionbc.org/sites/default/files/CL_Booklet_Community_Living.pdf
3. Rudd, T. (2014, February 5). RACIAL DISPROPORTIONALITY IN SCHOOL
DISCIPLINE: IMPLICIT BIAS IS HEAVILY IMPLICATED. Retrieved February 15,
2016, from http://kirwaninstitute.osu.edu/racial-disproportionality-in-school-disciplineimplicit-bias-is-heavily-implicated/