Atkuriamojo teisingumo priemonių taikymas mokyklose
The Application of Restorative Justice Measures in Schools

Summary/Abstract: This article examines the application of restorative justice measures in schools. Schools are one of the major social institutions where different conflicts could be observed. Such conflicts are often resolved by non-constructive measures, e.g., aggression, violence and bullying. The most common response to such behaviour is the punishment of the conflict initiator. However, punishment is not an effective response to such behaviour. It is a merely passive expression which requires a minimal or even completely does not require any consciousness or look for the solutions of the conflict. On the contrary, punishment often leads to greater resistance to the school system and encourages even greater violation of the rules. This article aims to show how conflicts in schools can be effectively resolved by using restorative justice measures, especially one of its models – mediation and why the application of restorative justice measures could be important in Lithuanian schools.Researches carried out in different countries show that by using the restorative justice measures the downward of the control and punishment measures applied, decreasing delinquent behaviour, the rise of feeling of security in schools could be observed. In Lithuania there is some practise of application of restorative justice measures. However, there is no common practise. The application of restorative justice initiatives is more sporadic, often based on the schools communities initiatives to apply restorative justice measures in their schools. Data on suicides, studies on violence, safety and bullying in Lithuanian schools show that the combination of existing violence prevention programs and new restorative justice measures could likely contribute to a more efficient problem solving of violence in Lithuanian schools.

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