IMPLEMENTING RESTORATIVE JUSTICE IN MMUST
Restorative Justice Practitioners of Kenya (RJPK) is a newly founded organization in MMUST, by MMUST students in the department of Criminology and Social Work. RJPK is specifically designed to provide MMUST school personnel with practical strategies to apply restorative justice within its school discipline codes, by ensuring that the school personnel get a
cquainted with the concept of restorative justice and restorative discipline; offering new tools that can reduce the need for school exclusion; involve the juvenile (youth) justice system in school misconduct and lastly introduce ways of enhancing school environment to prevent conflict and restore relationships. Restorative justice is a philosophy based on set of principles that guide the response to conflict and harm. These principles are based on practices that have been used for centuries in indigenous cultures and religious groups. Restorative justice emphasizes values of empathy, respect, honesty, acceptance, responsibility, and accountability. It also: provides ways to effectively address behavior and other complex school issues; offers a supportive environment that can improve learning; improves safety by preventing future harm; offers alternatives to suspension and expulsion. The main goals of restorative justice entail: accountability- Restorative Justice strategies provide opportunities for wrongdoers to be accountable for those they have harmed, and enable them to repair the harm they caused to the extend possible; community safety – Restorative Justice recognizes the need to keep the community safe through strategies that build relationships and empower the community to take responsibility for the well being of its members; competency development- Restorative Justice seeks to increase pro-social skills of those who have harmed others, address underlying factors that lead youth to engage in delinquent behavior, and build on strength in each young person and lastly ensure for empowerment of the victims- it seeks to restore the original state of the victim by restoring the power that was undermined by the very offensive acts. RJPK focuses specifically on crime and recognizes three parties with an important role and stake in justice process – offenders, victims (teachers/lecturers, school staff, bystanders, other students and the school community) and communities. But it also can guide response to a wider range of conflicts that do not involve an actual violation of law, rules and regulations. Restorative Justice to be applied in schools and more especially here in MMUST, views misconduct as a violation against people and damaging to relationships in the school and thought the community. A school rule violation may produce a clear victim, an individual who was directly harmed, or victims who were harmed indirectly. Discipline in schools and more especially here in MMUST has the potential to help young people learn to take responsibility for their own behavior, instead of imparting more punitive disciplinary suctions that do not educate students or resolve conflict, make the school less safe and even cause further harm to the students. Restorative justice practices and policies can offer an alternative to other more punitive responses used by schools. Students are often unaware of the harmful impact of their behavior on themselves and others. Handling conflict and misbehavior in a restorative way allows students and staff to actively make amends and repair harm. In addition, restorative practices in schools can promote positive feelings, rather than resentment and alienation within the school setting. Restorative discipline can provide opportunities to socialize youth and teach them how to be productive members of society. The discipline process includes learning how to control impulses and honoring proper social skills. In addition, referred students and student volunteers will benefit from restorative justice programs. Student volunteers will get to make new friends, help peers, and feel empowered and more connected to their school. Skills gained from restorative programs, such as conflict resolution and critical thinking, will also be valuable for students as they enter other institutions and/or seek employment. The following program models bring affected parties together to resolve conflict: Circles, Mediation and Conferencing and Peer Jury. These programs have shown promise and have been replicated by schools in many communities, nationally and internationally. Moreover, program variations may exist that still adhere to the principles of restorative justice. Restorative justice programs in schools are based on formal guidelines and incorporate trained individuals to deal with conflict and violations of school rules. We, the RJPK founding members, are glad to encourage embracing of restorative justice into our very community. We seek support through massive membership (especially from conflict resolution department, criminology, social work, psychology, education, law and any other interested party with similar aims to ours) and goodwill from all grounds of the community, for us to make this a reality, foster just order and just peace.
