Marquette bookshelf: ‘Restorative Justice: Promoting Peace and Wellbeing’

A collection of chapters highlighting connections between our psychological processes, building peaceful and harmonious societies, and restorative justice.

Yes. It is the first book I have published, and I am a co-editor of it.

In my own work, I study both peace education and restorative justice, focusing on how these educational experiences influence how young people think about themselves and their places in the world. Working in both these areas, I realized that there was not a lot of connection across the two fields, but that they are integrally related.

I hope to start a deeper conversation about how restorative justice can be understood as a pillar in building more peaceful, harmonious societies. I think psychology has a lot to offer in understanding this connect, and this book offers some food for thought and possible areas for further integration.

In my research, I am pushing forward with thinking about and studying restorative justice as a developmental influence. In other words, restorative justice in schools is often framed as helping with behavioral concerns, infractions or school climate. I am interested in understanding its broader potential to provide young people with formative experiences and frameworks for building more just, equitable and humane societies as engaged actors in their various communities.

I loved reading the different perspectives from the authors, as well as learning from my experienced co-editor. The array of backgrounds and foci of the different contributors include work from across the globe, thinking about restorative justice in contexts that are very different from the school settings I work in, and from scholars who are really models of thoughtful engagement on these topics. It was a real intellectual and personal growth experience for me.

Are there any other Marquette connections to the topic or development process of your book?

In addition to co-editing the book, I also co-authored a chapter, “Developing Youth Peacebuilders: The Potential of School-Based Restorative Justice in the USA,” with Antonio Butler, restorative practices practitioner at the Center for Self-Sufficiency in Milwaukee. Another chapter, “Diverse Approaches for Implementing Restorative Practices in Schools in the U.S.,” was authored by a trio from Marquette’s Department of Psychology: Dr. Astrida Kaugars and Dr. John Grych, professors of psychology, and graduate student Jamee Carroll.