American Economic Review
ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)
From Retributive to Restorative: An Alternative Approach to Justice in Schools
American Economic Review
(pp. 2722–54)
Abstract
School districts historically approached conflict resolution from the perspective that suspending disruptive students was necessary to protect their classmates, even if this caused harm to perceived offenders. Restorative practices (RP)—focusing on reparation, accountability, and shared ownership of disciplinary justice—are designed to address undesirable behavior without harming students. We study Chicago Public Schools' adoption of RP and find that suspensions and arrests decreased, driven by effects for Black students. We find null effects on test score value added, ruling out meaningful average declines. We estimate a 15 percent decrease in out-of-school arrests, consistent with RP substantively changing student behavior.Citation
Adukia, Anjali, Benjamin Feigenberg, and Fatemeh Momeni. 2025. "From Retributive to Restorative: An Alternative Approach to Justice in Schools." American Economic Review 115 (8): 2722–54. DOI: 10.1257/aer.20230971Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- D63 Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
- D74 Conflict; Conflict Resolution; Alliances; Revolutions
- D91 Micro-Based Behavioral Economics: Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
- I21 Analysis of Education
- I28 Education: Government Policy
- J15 Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
- J16 Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination