Typically when I blog about teen court (links to past posts), I am providing examples about how it is not really Restorative Justice. I have learned and recognize there are many different models and versions of Teen Court. I do appreciate the youth development and alternative approach that teen courts can provide. I am going to use today’s blog post to offer 5 specific ideas on how Teen Court programs might become more restorative.
- Decisions about you, should be made with you. This includes offenders/offending behavior. Restorative Justice belief: exclusion is a form of violence and violence begets violence. I am assuming the point of teen court is to “right the wrong” in a way that prevents future harm. Mixing it up and involving youth offenders in decisions that impact them can be a step towards being more restorative. This would mean teen juries don’t leave the room. This would mean the “judge” doesn’t make the final decision without input from all parties.
- Move the focus from the procedure of others representing the offender and the victim. Restorative Justice belief: Justice involves belonging and community. When another person is involved in presenting/representing/speaking for someone there can be negative consequences. The speaker might not have the “voice” of the person they are representing. The silent party might feel on the outside, versus being included. Restructuring the representation to include direct contribution would make the court more restorative.
- Train the youth in Restorative Justice Circles or at very least alternative sanctions. See what the youth find for comparing and contrasting the two (court or RJ process). Explore the ideas generated by the youth. If it really is the “teen’s court” or “youth court” give the students more knowledge, information and skills to work from. Restorative Justice belief: Restorative Justice is organic and grows in ways and areas reflective of the community. In my experience courts develop routine and procedures, and those procedures become the focus instead of finding individual case by case accountability.
- Use the Restorative Justice questions to learn about the “harm”. Restorative Justice Belief: Crime/conflict is harm to relationships, those most impacted, are most relevant to making things right. Ask what happened, who was impacted, what is needed to make things right. Focus the discussion and exploration of the incident on ways that frame up the context of the incident. Rather than proving right/wrong, guilty/not guilty look to identify systemic challenges that contributed and seek solutions rather than punishments.
- Dismantle the physical hierarachy. At very least, shape into a Circle. Restorative Justice Belief: Peacemaking Circles are a process with a specific philosophy and key elements. I remember being horrified at a professional conference and seeing a Circle demonstration where the talking piece was used by those in Circle to take turns asking shaming questions of the offender. At the same moment I was proud of my coworker, when her head spun toward me in disbelief! We don’t know what we don’t know. If you are going to do Peacemaking Circles, I suggest getting training, practice and more training and practice. I do recommend trying to be a bit more restorative and instead of tables across from each other, or people sitting in structures of role, you simply move to a more democratic seating arrangement.
If you test any of these, please let me know how it turns out. Years of experience in many, many kinds of Circles, I do depend and promote the use of Restorative Justice Peacemaking Circles, it is my bias. However, I have come to learn that small changes can have big impact. I also heard myself tell a training audience . . . “you have to crawl before you can walk and walk before you can run”. Maybe one of these 5 will move a Teen Court towards running full speed with Circle process!
