Training

Training is a lot of fun. It is also necessary to get a strong sense of RJ principles and the necessary skills to facilitate RJ dialogues. Here’s a list of places that I have conducted trainings on campus RJ:

RJ Training Sites

• Clarkson University
• Eastern Mennonite University
• Florida Gulf Coast University
• Keene State College
• Rochester Institute of Technology
• Skidmore College
• Wells College
• Association for Student Conduct Administration
• National Association of Student Personnel Administrators
• University and College Ombuds Association
• Colorado Forum on Restorative Community Justice

Two recent intensive training I’ve offered is at the ASCA Gehring Academy in June 2009 and in Harrisonburg, VA, in March 2010 (co-sponsored by Eastern Mennonite, James Madison, and Virginia Tech). The 4-day workshop at Gehring was co-facilitated by Gina Bata, Director of the University of Colorado Restorative Justice Program, and Duke Fisher, Lead Trainer for Learning Labs, Inc. In Virginia, the team included Shay Bright, Assistant Director of Conflict Resolution and Conduct at Colorado State, Josh Bacon, Director of the Office of Judicial Affairs at James Madison, and Howard Zehr, Professor of Restorative Justice at Eastern Mennonite University (link to more information about the EMU Training). 

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Resources

Three training resources that many people request are the facilitator’s script, role plays, and film clips. Here you go:

RJ Conferencing Script

Many facilitator scripts are used in restorative practice. Although some argue that you should not use a script at all, so that you can be flexible and responsive to the circle participants, most believe a script is helpful to ensure consistency of practice, and especially helpful to beginning practitioners. The script, which you can download here, is used at Skidmore College, and is adapted from several popular RJ scripts for the campus setting.

• Skidmore College Conference Facilitator Apprentice Script
• Skidmore College Pre-Conference Protocol

Role Plays

The most important part of RJ training is facilitator skill-building practice, and that means lots of role plays. Here’s a few we developed featuring student offenders and common conduct violations.

• DWI Car Theft
• Exam Theft
• Facebook Photo
• Lawn Donuts 
• Fire Alarm

 

Film Clips

We often use film clips in our trainings. They are short, engaging, and elicit discussion about key issues in RJ. Be patient, these take a while to load.

Gandhi: The Promise of RJ
This clip, from the 1982 film, is dramatic and we use it to highlight the philosophical differences between restorative and punishment-focused philosophies.

Wisdom of the Elders

I found a variety of clips from various pioneers of RJ, and strung them together. It’s a nice way to introduce RJ ideas from the pros. In order, the clip features:

• Dennis Maloney, former director of Deschutes County Probation (Oregon)
• Howard Zehr, professor at Eastern Mennonite University and author of Change Lenses and The Little Book of Restorative Justice
• Desmond Tutu, activist and creator of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission and author of No Future Without Forgiveness
• Kay Pranis, formerly RJ planner at Minnesota Department of Corrections and author of Peacemaking Circles
• John Braithwaite, professor at Australian National University and author of Restorative Justice and Responsive Regulation

Paintball Case
Features a juvenile case in Colorado in which a boy shot a paintball into a crowded blinding a girl in one eye. Tom Cavanaugh wrote a case study of this incident, which is a nice supplement to the clip.

Covered Bridge Arson Case
This is a clip from the documentary called Burning Bridges, featuring the part of the conferencing identifying the harm cause by the offense. This is particularly good for campus trainings because the offenders were all college-age.

Don Imus Apology
Apology letters are a common sanction in RJ, and on this site I offer a set of suggested guidelines for writing them. This clip shows broadcaster Don Imus apologizing for derogatory comments he made about members of the Rutgers University Women’s Basketball Team. Training groups have a good time identifying the many ways in which his apology fails to meet the apology guidelines.

Kaavya Viswanathan Plagiarism
In this Katie Couric interview, Harvard University student Kaavya Viswanathan takes responsibility (or does she?) for plagiarizing several passages in her popular teen novel. This clip is terrific for generating discussion about what it means to admit fault and take responsibility. As a supplement, see a short essay I published in the Journal of Student Conduct Administration called “Not with a Bang but a Whimper: A Missed Opportunity for Restorative Justice in a Plagiarism Case.”

Victim Impact: Burglary
In this clip, a victim of a burglary describes the personal impact of the offense. The clip is part of a terrific series by the Department of Justice Office of Victims of Crime that features victims of a variety of crimes, and also includes a training manual.

Drunk Driving Case

This clip documents a restorative conference in response to a drunk driving incident that resulted in a death. Carolyn Boyes-Watson wrote a case study in her textbook, Crime and Justice: A Casebook Approach.