Restorative justice in universities : is restorative justice a viable alternative to conflict resolution in UAB?

Restorative justice is currently being used in several international universities as an alternative to traditional disciplinary systems. Literature suggests that restorative justice is aligned with modern higher-education goals and that its use in universities can promote inclusive, civic, and democratic values amongst the community. The present study first aims to explore how restorative justice is being implemented in universities in an international context, and secondly, aims to determine whether restorative justice is a viable alternative resolution to conflict in Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. To such end, bibliographic research has been conducted on conflicts in educational, community and university contexts, and restorative justice practices in those. Three semi-structured interviews have been conducted with managers of restorative justice programmes at US universities to gain knowledge on the characteristics of the programmes and best practices for their implementation. Secondly, nine semi-structured interviews have been conducted with UAB members and a survey has been distributed to 253 UAB students to determine the conflicts occurring at UAB, their current resolution methods, and the alternatives conceived to them by the UAB community. Results indicate that restorative justice can be successfully adapted to university contexts and that the UAB community would be open to restorative solutions to current conflicts.