By Priscilla Mori

	‘In restorative justice, the goals are to repair harm and to reintegrate the offender into the community…’

Dealing with misconduct in a fair and appropriate manner to all involved is a challenge in any community. For the past two years at UCSB individuals from across campus have sought to give community members a greater voice in dealing with misconduct through a process known as “restorative justice.”

In restorative justice, the goals are to repair harm and to reintegrate the offender into the community with the ability to make better choices in the future. Those affected by an offense meet with the offender in what is called a restorative justice circle.

An incident in a residence hall lounge illustrates this approach. One night, some students who had been drinking decided to amuse themselves by singeing their leg hair. A couch caught on fire. A student extinguished the fire and then proceeded to destroy the rest of the furniture in the lounge.

The student responsible faced a felony vandalism charge. During the investigation, the campus police offered the student an alternative to the normal judicial process: The felony charge would be reduced to a misdemeanor if the student completed the restorative justice process.

The student chose to participate in a circle. Others in this circle included a member of the Judicial Affairs Office staff, a campus police officer, the supervisor of the residence hall maintenance staff, and two facilitators, of which I was one.

In the circle, the student spoke about what occurred on the night of the incident and what he was thinking at the time. The others listened and talked about how the incident had affected them. As a group, they generated a list of actions that the student would take to repair the harm, which included paying for damages, spending 100 hours in the next academic year working with campus maintenance staff cleaning up messes other people had created, attending 30 Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, moving out of the residence hall, and participating in a future restorative justice circle.

Restorative justice complements other student judicial processes on campus. When conduct cases meet certain criteria, individuals from judicial affairs, campus police, or other campus offices may propose this option.

I’ve been a facilitator for a number of restorative justice circles and can truly say that I have seen individuals transformed. Understanding grows as people really listen to one another. It takes courage to participate in a circle, but the process builds community.

Some of the basic concepts of restorative justice are found in the tribal justice practices of the Maori, and in sentencing and peacemaking circles among some North American Indian nations. Restorative justice is particularly fitting for use on college and university campuses.

For me, this approach exemplifies civility. I envision a campus community where civility is the norm, where there is an awareness of personal responsibility, and where we learn to make better choices in our treatment of one another. This vision applies equally to faculty, staff, and students.

If UCSB could be a place where individuals honor one another and find opportunities to listen, to forgive, and to extend a hand to restore, we would not only be creating a healthy environment, but we would also equip our students with tools to become community builders in the future.