You are here

Restorative Practices at Haverford College Navigation

Restorative Practices at Haverford College

Procedures

Restorative practices take time. It is not possible to give a firm timeline on how long a process will take, but expect to be involved for a number of hours spread out over a couple of weeks or a month or two--depending on the specific encounter and the needs of participants. Here you’ll find a short description of our procedures and a selection of different kinds of conversations that the office will help facilitate.

The process RP@HC will follow:

Request arrives at RP@HC

Members of the RP committee determine whether the request is within RP@HC’s areas of competence

  • If yes: author of request receives a list of mediators. They can express preferences for kinds of mediators (staff, faculty, student) or convey concerns (conflict of interest). Two mediators will be chosen according to preferences and needs of involved parties and mediator schedules.
  • If no: after conversation with author of request, the case may be dropped or forwarded to another office (e.g., Title IX, CAPS, the Deans' office, etc.). We will work together with author of request to determine the best path forward.

Initial Conversation

A conversation takes place with author of request and two mediators. Author of request may bring a support person. Mediators and author of request will work together to determine what role support persons may play in the conversation..

Mediators and author of request determine what kind of restorative process is best suited to the case: a talking circle, 2-party conversation, community conference, harm and healing circle, or hybrid thereof. See below for descriptions of these processes.

Mediators Next Steps

Mediators reach out to any other parties involved to determine willingness to participate, check on conflict of interest concerns with lists of mediators, etc.

  • Mediators hold initial conversations with other involved parties and support persons
  • Mediators schedule a conversation to communicate guidelines and formal plans to all parties

Conversation

The conversation is held with author of request, mediators, and involved parties

A confidential agreement is finalized by all parties, including plans for checking in on progress

If appropriate, a confidential agreement is finalized by all parties, including plans for checking in on progress. Agreements are tailored to specific cases and participants, but may include mechanisms for making amends, learning experiences, further conversation, or commitments for future action. Punishment is never part of a restorative process.

A signed copy of any agreement is housed with RP@HC and kept confidential. No documents will be shared with other offices or persons not involved with the case.

Final Steps

All participants are asked to evaluate/offer feedback on the process

RP@HC monitors agreement as needed

Close Case

After monitoring agreements and evaluating feedback, RP@HC closes case

Types of conversation that might RP@HC might mediate:

  1. Talking circle (issue of general community concern, open to interested parties, facilitated by 2 mediators)
  2. Harm and healing circle (harmed party asks for mediation of conversation with responsible party, with other community members)
  3. 2-party conference (harmed party desire mediation of conversation with responsible party)
  4. Community support circle (harmed party does not wish to be in conversation with the responsible party but would like to feel supported by community)
  5. Community conference (larger version of talking circle—under development)

Note: Sometimes a 2-party conference might lead to a harm and healing circle or a community conference. Other times a 2-party conference might be all that is needed. Sometimes a community support circle might lead to a 2-party conference or harm and healing circle. Etc. The guidelines are flexible to suit different needs and possibilities.