Introducing Restorative Justice

Synopsis

This film contains four segments that explain how restorative justice can used in schools as a discipline option and demonstrates the positive impact it can have.

The first segment is an introduction to restorative justice for students and their parents. It describes it as a mechanism for resolving conflicts, restoring relationships and fostering respect among students and school staff. To illustrate the benefits, students relate three stories, two about fights and the third about bullying.(8 mins)

The second segment provides an explanation of restorative justice for staff and school administrators. Divided into two parts, it includes the information provided students in segment one adding the voice of teachers and administrators. Teachers describe the training they received and how it has helped them apply restorative approaches. They describe being surprised by the understanding the students had of the process and the creativity they show in creating solutions. An administrator discusses how restorative conferencing has been useful in conflicts between students, students and faculty, and staff.(16 mins)

A third segment, titled ‘Other Stories’, presents individual stories. This includes a student and teacher talking about an incident between them in class and how a conference had helped them improve their relationship. Another story concerns a conflict between two girls that escalated to the point of parents becoming involved. The father of one student and the facilitator describe the expanding impact of the conflict and the emotional journey of the conference and the positive results coming out of it. In the final story, a young girl describes a disagreement she had with a friend when two of her friends did not get along and how the conference helped them find ways to repair their relationship.(11 Mins)

The final segment is a dramatization of a conference between two students who had been in a fight and their parents. The video shows the facilitator welcoming each party to the conference, discussing ground rules and then allowing each participant to have a voice in the process. Of the four segments, this is the longest at 35 minutes.

The segments allow the video to be used in explaining the concepts to diverse audiences: school decision makers, students and their families, and staff.

Language

English

Country

Great Britain

Year of release

2010

Year of production

2005

Subjects

Education; Social welfare

Keywords

conflict resolution; discipline in schools; schoolchildren; restorative justice

Credits

Director

Faye Gilbert

Distribution Formats

Type

DVD

Format

Region 2 PAL

Price

£40.00

Availability

Sale

Duration/Size

70 minutes

Year

2010

Production Company

Name

Living Archive

Distributor

Name

Concord Media

Email

sales@concordmedia.org.uk

Web

http://www.concordmedia.org.uk/ External site opens in new window

Phone

01473 726 012

Address

Rosehill Centre
22 Hines Road
Ipswich
IP3 9BG

Notes

A long-established, not-for-profit organisation with a large collection DVDs, specialising in the sectors of general and mental health, child care, race relations, war and peace, addictions, the third world, ecology, civil rights, personal relationships, educational issues, and social work training. Concord also handles titles made for the Graves Medical Audio-visual Library. Sale on DVD. Formerly known as Concord Video and Film Council. In 2014 Concord began to offer selected films as Video on Demand, via Vimeo.