Restorative Justice and the School-to-Prison Pipeline: A Conceptual Framework to Address Racial and Ethnic Disproportionality

Abstract

This article develops a restorative justice framework that aims to address racial and ethnic disproportionality in the school-to-prison pipeline (STPP) in the United States. The framework uses literature on restorative justice and the STPP as its foundation and applies a restorative justice approach to three major strategies related to racial and ethnic disproportionality in the STPP: (1) school climate and school–student relationship, (2) a school’s cultural humility and connectedness, and (3) exclusionary discipline reduction. The first strategy proposes the development of respectful and credible relationships among teachers, staff, and students. The second suggests two techniques: (1) self-reflection to address implicit biases among teachers/administrators and (2) parental involvement. Both the first and the second strategies are considered prevention strategies. The third strategy uses techniques of intervention, including peer mediation, restorative circles, and community service, as alternative punishments. This framework theorizes that a focus on these three major strategies will challenge institutional racism in schools as a determinant of the disciplinary inequity that students of color experience. This framework further theorizes that addressing institutional racism through these specific interrelated strategies will result in three major outcomes that can decrease racial and ethnic disproportionality in the STPP.