American High Schools Utilizing Traditional Indigenous Restorative Justice Practices to Resolve Conflict and Find Solutions for Students

Abstract

This study included three American high schools with high Native American populations. It investigated their restorative justice (RJ) methods for helping students with suspensions and other disciplinary actions from school conflicts. In addition to Tribal Crit as a framework, I utilize the Critical Indigenous Research Methodologies (CIRM) framework. The framework roots comprise “4Rs”: relationships, responsibility, respect, and reciprocity. Each school was finding solutions to live in peace with its peers at school and in the community, and has its own Indigenous methods that focus on balance and community. Three themes emerged from the data: (1) becoming part of a community through RJ, (2) the RJ circle finding solutions, and (3) a balance needed for RJ. The community in this context is the school, outside agencies, and, in some schools, local tribal services. The findings show that respect is highly valued in schools and that buy-in is a barrier when implementing RJ circles. Restorative justice methods have been used in tribal communities since time immemorial (McCaslin et al., 2005).