1. Introduction to School Peacemaking Circles
Lee Copenhagen, LCSW
BARJ Project Trainer with the support of the Minnesota Department of Corrections and National Institute of Corrections
Purpose:
This module is designed to welcome participants, provide an opportunity to participate in a brief introduction circle, provide a background of peacekeeping circles and their applicability to resolve conflict and repair the harm caused by crime.
Objectives:
By the end of this module the participants will be able to:
Identify their co-participants
Describe the circle process
Understand the basic concepts of restorative justice
Recognize opportunities to use peacekeeping circles
Time: 4 Hours Classroom: Circle chairs
Handouts:
Agenda & PowerPoint Slides
Applications, & Circles: Use of Talking Stick, Feather, Rock
Circle Sentencing excerpt

2. Overview of Circles (Pranis, 2005)
A Peacemaking circle is a way of bring people together in which:
Everyone is respected
Everyone gets a chance to talk w/o interruption
Everyone is equal
Spiritual and emotional aspects of individual experience are welcomed

3. Overview (cont.)
Peacemaking Circles are useful when two or more people:
need to make decisions together
have a disagreement
need to address an experience that resulted in harm to someone
want to work together as a team
wish to celebrate
wish to share difficulties
want to learn from each other

4. What Are School Peacemaking Circles?
A Process for bringing students/teachers/staff together as equals to talk about the offense
Provides an atmosphere of respect & concern for everyone
Face-to-face encounter to repair harm
Led by trained Circle Keepers
Participants decide Circle outcome
Ask group if anyone has participated in circle before, would they be willing to share what it was about, if not discuss one of yours.
Often a holy or sacred space, borrowed from first nations and native peoples: Canada, New Zealand, Navajo Nation
Face- face Encounters include:
Person(s) who has been harmed
Person(s) who did the harm
Supporters of each
Others with a stake in outcome
Trained Keepers
Mediators or facilitators to keep the circle balanced
Outcome
Hard for some facilitator to really, “trust the process”

5. What are Circles? (cont.)
Voluntary for victim
Admission of responsibility by offender
Incident-based, behavior-based
Looks at underlying causes
Focuses on empowering participants
Comes to consensus agreement
Being voluntary extremely important, remember this is victim centered and focused. Ask why? Get feedback early.
Offender needs to admit guilt and hopefully remorse or there is a risk of re-victimizing the one who has been harmed (victim).
Circles deal with specific incidents, sometimes underlying factors are brought up and can be addressed. No blaming language or personal attacks.
Participants can change and grow, they have the power to “fix” or “repair” the harm caused by this incident. Offenders can make it right. Victims are able to stand up for themselves and demand “repair” without the state’s attorney.
Solutions or repair are reached by all, this is truly a “just” solution.

6. Circles in Practice (Pranis , 2005)
Ceremony
Guidelines
Talking Piece
Facilitator or Keeper
Consensus Decision-Making

7. Old School Approach to Offenses:
Questions asked:
What laws/rules were broken?
Who did it?
What punishment do they deserve?
Not usually in a circle format, but in a courtroom with very strict rules and even its own language.
Sometimes punishment includes monetary restitution, but can a price be placed on something priceless?
The sentence or outcome will be retributive and punitive, based on past problem behavior, and really isn’t this just deficit based?

8. New guiding questions Who has been hurt? What are their needs?
Whose obligations are they?
What are the causes?
Who has a ‘stake’ in this?
What is the appropriate process to involve the stakeholders to put things right?
(Zehr, 2002).

9. Restorative discipline:
Recognizes the purpose of the misbehavior
Addresses the needs of those harmed
Works to put things right
Aims to improve the future
Seeks to heal
Uses the collaborative process
Stutzman & Mullet, 2005).

10. Typical Stages of the Peacemaking Circle Process
Acceptance –
community & affected parties determine if circle is appropriate
Preparation -
separate circles for various interests are held
Gathering –
All parties brought together
Follow-up –
Regular communication and check-ins
Needs to be a screening process, sometimes community based organizations, other times from diversion programs in police or youth probation departments.
Preparation important, offenders need to admit responsibility (or guilt), and sometimes “pre- circles” or prep conferences can be held.
Starts with offender screening because he/she must be appropriate and willing, cannot start with victim because often the offense remains traumatic and why set victims up for expectations of a meeting then find out offender remains un-remorseful and uncooperative?
Promises of repair and obligations will occur that must be followed up on to be sure they happened, again false promises will re-harm the victim.
Hold next slide and ask who could participate in a circle of a young offender who vandalized a church.

11. VOM Peacemaking Circles
KEEPER
SUPPORTER
COMMUNITY
MEMBER
VICTIM
OFFENDER
FAMILY
MEMBER
SUPPORTER
POLICE
OFFICER
FAMILY
MEMBER
Have participants sketch this out on dry erase board before you show this.
Get their input on circle participants.
COMMUNITY
MEMBER
HUMAN
SERVICES
PROBATION
OFFICER
KEEPER

12. Where Circles Fit in Schools
SUSPENSION
CLASSROOM ROLEPLAYS,
TEACH RJ SKILLS
PRE- RETURN TO CLASS, PROGRAM
Circle Opportunity
Truancy circles have been very successful because they bring in such a large support network.
Handout: Applications of Peacemaking Circles.
ISS OR IMMEDIATELY
EXPULSION
RE-ENTRY TO DISTRICT

13. Applications for Schools
Managing classroom behavior
Handling school discipline
Repair teacher / student relationship after theft of Ipad
Repairing harms inflicted between students
Providing space to begin talking about long standing conflicts from middle school
Face to face talking in time of social networking & texting

14. New Applications for CA Schools
AB 1729 Chaptered September 12, 2012
Amends Ed Code about bullying
Amends Ed Code adding specific alternatives to suspension, including:
Conferences
Referrals to counselor, psychologist, social worker CWA, and school support staff
Participation in a restorative justice program
Program for prosocial behavior or anger mgmt
A positive behavior approach with interventions

15. Justice should be healing.
Crime is a wound.
From Howard Zehr.
Justice should be healing.

16. Understanding the Participants
Victim / Offender
Mediation Circle
Umbreit (2000)

17. Restorative Circles Addresses Shared Interests
Offender
Interests
Victim
Interests
School
Community
Interests
Victim/Offender/
School

18. Restorative Approach Questions (Zehr, 1990)
What is the harm?
What needs to be done to repair the harm?
Who is responsible for this repair?

19. Stakeholder Identification Questions
Who was harmed?
Who caused the harm?
Who else may have a stake in the process?

20. Understanding Victims: Four Major Impact Areas
Physical
Emotional
Psychological
Financial

21. Victims’ Physical Responses
Physical shock, disorientation, numbness
Physiological reaction to “fight or flight or freeze” instinct:
Adrenaline begins to pump
Body relieves itself of excess materials
Heart rate increases
Hyperventilation, sweating, etc
Heightened sensory perception
Exhaustion

22. REMAIN NON-JUDGMENTAL
Needs of the Victim
TREAT WITH
DIGNITY AND RESPECT
FOLLOW- UP
REMAIN NON-JUDGMENTAL
EMPOWER
PROBLEMS & PLANS
RETURN
PHONE CALLS
KEEP
PROMISES
PREDICT & PREPARE
VENT & VALIDATE
SAFETY & SECURITY

23. Helpful Responses The problem is the problem Support the victim
Reject stereotypes and myths
Appreciate natural and formal support systems
Actively collaborate
Examine your own attitudes, understanding and knowledge

24. Tolerate ambivalence, anger and roller coaster feelings
Allow victim to work through his or her own problems
Do offer support and information so victim can gain a sense of his or her own power
Be willing to deal with complicated and difficult cases
Be realistic in all aspects

25. Understanding Offenders:
What are your attitudes about adolescents & offenders?
Bazemore and Terry (1998) model suggests that the juvenile justice system has been dominated by two primary methods:
Rehabilitative
treatment models and approaches
Punitive
punish, control and contain

26. Restorative Goals To help the offender change:
What they think (content)
How they think (process)
How they behave (behavior)

27. Applying Restorative Theory in Peacemaking Circles
Who are the offenders?
What might be the excuses they would use?
What should you be attentive to when preparing for the circle?
How might those who are related to the offender be affected?

28. School Community’s Role in Circles
Speak to how the community is affected
Hold the offender accountable
Support completion of agreements
Identify resources to contribute to agreements

29. School Community’s Role With Victims
Support them
Validate their experience
Hold offenders directly accountable

30. School Community’s Role With Offenders
Support them by looking at the behavior, not the individual
Help them understand how their behavior affects their community
Establish community norms
Provide a means for reintegration

31. School Community’s Role With Itself
Circle process builds community competency and problem solving - brings community together
School community members share the responsibility for dealing with school climate issues

32. Role of the Circle Keepers
Minnesota Department of Corrections
and National Institute of Corrections

33. Dynamics of Difference
White middle class (mainstream) culture has been imposed upon minorities
Used to judge intelligence, mental health, beauty, appropriate communication
Mainstream values applied to others draw mainstream conclusions

34. Cultural Competence . . .
Is the ability to work effectively with people whose culture is different from your own
Requires understanding your own biases
Requires understanding the differences of the people with whom you interact

35. Taking Care of Yourself As a Keeper:
Being Centered enables you to focus through others’ pain, frustration, extreme feelings, and ability or inability to reach agreement

36. Roles of the Keepers
Create an atmosphere of respect and safety for all
Create a tone of hope and optimism for constructive solutions
Guide the process to remain true to underlying values
Articulate the progress and accomplishments of the circle as it proceeds
Clarify unresolved issues to focus the circle’s energy
Participate as a community member

37. Basic Keeper Communication Skills
Eliminate distractions
Demonstrate active listening
Suspend judgement
Be empathetic
Try not to assume

38. Be aware and tolerant of differences in communication styles
Allow speakers to vent
Model and teach use of "I" statements
Be aware of your emotions and biases
Acknowledge the speaker's emotions as existing and legitimate

39. Body Language Eye contact to all
Physically centered, sitting with body balanced, able to see everyone easily
Alert, but relaxed muscles
Use body and eye contact to direct speaker to talk to all

40. How to Give Feedback: Communication Checklist
The problem is the problem
Separate behavior from the person
Give suggestions of alternatives
Acknowledge skills well displayed
Be honest, but talk with the intention of helping to improve
Look to learn for yourself

41. Allowing Emotional Expression
Keep facial expressions neutral or supportive
Pass tissues to teary participants
Check in on all participants
Use silence: count 10 after a strong emotional expression
If participant expresses anger inappropriately, remind them of ground rules

42. Problematic Facilitation Techniques
Talking for participants
Interrupting
Low skilled communicators
Dominating participants’ discussion
Allowing participants to look at keeper and talk only to keeper

43. Co-Keeping More difficult to coordinate scheduling Increases safety
Allows hearing or seeing things one person would have missed
Helps facilitate difficult or complex sessions
Enables shared feedback, viewpoints

44. More thoughts of the Roles of the Keepers
Be compassionate, sincere, respectful
Listen!
Let people vent their emotions
Stay neutral (“equally partial”), while disapproving of harm done
Be a facilitator, not judge or negotiator
Do not be directive

45. Don’t counsel participants
Be aware of community resources
Model and teach communication skills
Be able to work independently
Be willing to keep records
Be able to do a very basic readiness check
Be willing to evaluate yourself and co-keeper

46. Stages of the Circle Process
Circle Processes
(Pranis, 2005)

47. Stage 1: Determining Suitability
Are key parties willing to participate?
Are trained facilitators available?
Will the situation allow the time required to use the Circle Process?
Can physical and emotional safety be maintained?

48. Stage 2 Preparation
Identify who needs to participate. Who has been impacted? Who has resources, skills, or knowledge that might be needed?
Familiarize parties with the process
Begin exploring the context of the issue

49. Stage 3: Convening all parties
Indentify shared values and develop guidelines
Engage storytelling to build relationships and connections
Share concerns and hopes
Express feelings
Probe underlying causes of conflict or harm
Generate ideas for addressing harm or resolving conflict
Determine areas of consensus for action
Develop agreement and clarify responsibilities

50. Stage 4: Follow-up
Assess progress on agreements. Are all parties fullfilling their obligations?
Probe for causes of any failure to fullfill n obligation, clarify responsibilites, and identify next steps if the failure continues
Adjust agreements as needed based on new information or developments
Celebrate successes

51. Guidelines for a restorative conversation
Safe and Peaceful Schools
( Winslade & Williams, 2012)

52. Establishing the Conversation
Who is effected by what happened?
Who has a stake in seeing things put right?

53. Identifying the problem
What happened?
What part did you play?
What can we call it?
(the problem is the problem)
What drew you into the trouble

54. Mapping the effects How did it get you to feel?
What did it get you to do?
What did it get you thinking?
How did it affect the way you are with each other?
How have other people been affected?

55. Addressing the harm
What do you think of the way that this incident has affected people? Are you happy with that? Was it fair?
To the victim:
If this situation were to be put right, what would you need?
To the aggressor:
How could we make sure this doesn’t happen again?

56. Forming the plan Who will do what? When and where?
How will we know it is done?

57. Role Play

58. Next steps

59. References
Pranis, K. (2005) Circle processes: A new/old approach to peacemaking. Intercourse, PA: Good Books.
Pranis, K., Stuart, B.,& Wedge, M. (2003). Peacemaking circles: From crime to community. St Paul, MN: Living Justice Press.
Winslade, J & Williams, M. (2012) Safe and Peaceful schools: Addressing conflict and eliminating violence. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Zehr, H (1990). Changing lenses: A new focus for crime and justice. Scottsdale, PA: Herald Press.

60. Lee Copenhagen, MSW, LCSW, is a nationally certified restorative justice trainer and practitioner who has conducted trainings in victim offender dialog, circle keeping, mediation, delinquency prevention, and restorative justice. Lee has been working on high school campuses for over twenty-five years in many different roles including juvenile investigator, youth probation officer, social worker, youth gang researcher, teacher, counselor, family therapist, and parent.