Restorative Practices for Reconstruction

Abstract

Until all humans develop peace-oriented conflict-response abilities, there will continue to be opportunities for restoration from harm. When harm from inappropriate responses to conflict results in indirect and direct violence, there is a need for restoration. Whether the damage is widespread or contained, across world regions or in the mind where violent thoughts occur, the need for change with reconstruction exists. This need has been increasingly recognized and responded to in recent years by people throughout the world who are in professions in which they have identified some of the ways harm can be avoided or repaired. This chapter focuses on two fields wherein the need for such accomplishments has been addressed. Professionals in education and law have been proactively changing interactions in response to conflict. After describing the theories and aspirations that underlie their accomplishments, this chapter briefly presents the ways in which restorative practices have become evident in those two fields. However, the limited scope of the chapter is not intended to undervalue the restoration that people have been doing throughout human history and across professions. Rather, the chapter represents my direct experience with and research on restoration in the two fields described herein.