Restorative Approaches

What are Restorative Approaches?

Restorative approaches mean coming together to talk about difficulties between people and agreeing on a way forward. They can also be used to make agreements before things kick off, so that everyone knows each other’s expectations.

Our beliefs about restorative approaches:

• Everyone has an equally valued opinion and should be listened to

• Our thoughts affect our feelings and vice versa, so we should talk about our thoughts and feelings

• When we do something harmful, we should think about the effects on others

• When our needs are met, we can get on best with our lives

• The people most involved in an incident are the ones that should decide the way forward

How does this affect me?

Members of the team will work with you in a way that reflects the five beliefs listed above. This could be about how they talk to you about your goals and concerns or how they work with you and others about how you live together.

There are many restorative approaches – some are formal processes and some you may not even notice as being anything different (like a conversation with your support worker).

When something upsetting happens to you or your behaviour affects someone else in an upsetting or harmful way, you will have the opportunity to take a restorative route to sorting it out.

This means the 1625ip team members will help you and the others involved to understand:

• What has happened

• Why it has happened

• How to find a way to put things right and make sure it does not happen again

There are different ways that we can do this, and they will only be done with your agreement and involvement.

Here are some examples:

Example one

A resident at a hostel gets angry and hits a wall, causing a small hole. This is a breach of their licence agreement so needs to be resolved. Their support worker meets with them to find out what happened and finds out they were upset because of a recent break up. Their support worker talks this through with them and helps them understand the impact of what they have done.

The resident now understands that this has caused damage which creates work for the maintenance team and a cost to the project. It was also upsetting for other residents who witnessed this and were frightened.

The resident comes to an agreement with their keyworker that they will help the maintenance worker repair the wall, instead of paying for it or being reported as criminal damage.

Their support worker is going to provide them with additional support to manage their emotions and help them learn different coping techniques.

Example two

Two residents in a shared house are having problems keeping on top of cleaning and each are blaming each other. It is now causing a lot of tension and one of them is threatening to “take matters into their own hands”.

Their support worker becomes aware of this and suggests Restorative Approaches, and both residents agree.

The support worker speaks to both residents separately to get their views, and after doing so and calming the situation down, all three come together. Both residents talk about their views and together resolve some misunderstandings. They agree to draw up a cleaning rota.

How can I get involved?

If you are having difficulties with someone’s behaviour, please talk to your Support Worker, so that we can find a way to sort things out together.

We understand that life can be difficult, but by talking to each other about our thoughts, feelings and needs many problems can be easily solved.

It’s not ‘snitching’ on someone if you ask to use a restorative approach – it’s a way to sort things out together.

We hope that by us including restorative approaches in our work you will feel:

• Listened to

• Valued

• That you can make a difference when things go wrong

In the long run, we think this will help everyone’s lives to be happier and drama free.