Author: Renata GIEDRYTĖ-MAČIULIENĖ, Judita VENCKEVIČIENĖ
Topic category: Criminology

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.