Sep 2023
NBER working paper – From Retributive to Restorative: An Alternative Approach to Justice
Topics
Methodologies
Projects
This paper evaluates the effect of restorative practices implemented in Chicago high schools, finding decreases and student arrests in and outside of school and for violent and non-violent offenses.
School districts historically approached conflict-resolution from the perspective that suspending disruptive students was necessary to protect their classmates, even if this caused harm to perceived offenders. Restorative practices (RP) – focused on reparation, accountability, and shared ownership of disciplinary justice – are designed to address undesirable behavior without harming students. We study Chicago Public Schools’ adoption of RP and find that suspensions and arrests decreased, driven by effects for Black students. We find null effects on test-score value added, ruling out meaningful average declines. We estimate a 15% decrease in out-of-school arrests, consistent with RP substantively changing student behavior.
Topics
Methodologies
Projects
From Retributive to Restorative: An Alternative Approach to Justice in Schools
This research brief details the findings from the Education Lab’s study of the effect of restorative practices in Chicago Public Schools.
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