The Restorative Justice Clinical Program (RJCP) is an innovative suite of experiential learning activities, based at the University of Kent. Launched in September 2022, our mission is to enrich Kent students’ education by providing unique opportunities to develop their vocational skills and to support local communities with free restorative justice services.
The RJCP consists of four different activities:
- One optional module – Restorative Justice: Concepts, Issues, Debates SOCI6810/11 – taking place during the Spring Term, focussing on the theory, history and policy on restorative justice, nationally and internationally.
- One optional module – Restorative Justice in Action SOCI6820 – organised as an two-week long summer school on the practice of restorative justice aiming to develop the skills needed for facilitating both preventative and responsive restorative justice processes.
- The Restorative Justice Clinic, an extra-curricular module through which students conduct outreach and educational advocacy and engage with real life cases of conflicts and harms, under the supervision of the Clinic’s director. The Restorative Justice Clinic receives referrals from a range of partners as well as self-referrals from anyone involved in conflicts and harm or aiming to prevent either. The Director and students assess the suitability of the referrals whilst complying with relevant ethical obligations, including the rules of confidentiality, and then develop a relevant intervention.
- Bespoke Professional Development courses aiming to educate and train critically on restorative justice theories and practices.
Student involvement in the Restorative Justice Clinic
- The Clinic is open to Stage 2 and Stage 3 students. Students are closely supervised. Numbers are limited and applicants are required to have taken the training provided by the Restorative Justice in Action SOCI6820 summer school or comparable training and experience.
- Participating students earn Employability Points for the chance to apply for exclusive internships, work placements, training and more.
- Students participate in the entire restorative justice process: outreach, analysis of referrals, risk assessment, restorative sessions planning and facilitation, reflective practice meetings, feedback to referrers, follow-up. Collective and one-to-one feedback is provided in order to support students’ reflective practice.
- Students attend regular group discussion sessions led by Clinic Director.
Contact us
In order to know more about the Restorative Justice Clinical Program or to arrange an appointment with the Restorative Justice Clinic:
- send an email the Director Dr Giuseppe Maglione g.maglione@kent.ac.uk