Restorative Justice in Practice: Repairing Harm and Rebuilding Relationships

By the end of this course, participants will be able to: 

• Understand the foundations of restorative justice and its applications in their professional context 

• Distinguish restorative justice from traditional disciplinary or punitive responses 

• Apply a trauma-informed and relational lens to incidents of conflict or harm 

• Use restorative questions, active listening, and summarising techniques 

• Recognise how to adapt restorative justice processes to their professional role and setting 

• Build a more inclusive, dialogic, and accountable culture within their organisation 

• Core values, principles, and processes of restorative justice, explored through practical and theoretical lenses 

• Applications of restorative justice for addressing harm, rebuilding trust, and enhancing organisational culture 

• Tools and techniques for implementing restorative approaches in your specific professional context 

• Skill-building in communication, conflict navigation, and inclusive stakeholder engagement 

• Critical reflection on the emotional, institutional, and ethical dimensions of restorative justice practice

This opening session introduces the aims and structure of the course and explores participants' experiences of conflict and harm in their professional contexts. Participants are introduced to the principles and values of restorative justice and examine how restorative approaches differ from conventional disciplinary, managerial and punitive responses.

This session explores restorative justice's distinctive understanding of harm as a context-specific relational phenomenon. Rather than viewing conflict and wrongdoing simply as individual acts or rule violations, participants examine how they are rooted in social, political, economic and cultural contexts and how they affect relationships, trust, communities and organisational life. Through case studies and discussion, participants learn to identify impacts, needs and stakeholders.  

This session critically compares restorative justice with other approaches to conflict and harm, including disciplinary procedures, complaint handling, investigation and mediation. Participants explore the assumptions, strengths and limitations of different responses and consider what becomes possible when the focus shifts from blame and punishment towards dialogue, accountability and repair.

This highly interactive session develops the communication skills underpinning restorative practice. Participants learn and practise active listening, open questioning, summarising and perspective-taking while exploring how communication can either reinforce conflict or create opportunities for understanding and change.

Participants are introduced to restorative questions and the structure of restorative conversations. Through guided role-plays and practical exercises, they develop confidence in facilitating dialogue, supporting accountability and enabling constructive responses to harm.

Building on previous sessions, participants work through more complex scenarios and develop facilitation skills for restorative conversations. Particular attention is given to balancing accountability, participation, safety and the practical realities of working within organisational settings.

The final session explores how restorative approaches can contribute to more inclusive, dialogic and accountable organisational cultures. Participants reflect on implementation challenges, institutional barriers and opportunities for embedding restorative principles within everyday practice. The course concludes with reflection, evaluation and action planning.

This course is specifically designed for professionals working in, but not limited to, these contexts: 

• The NHS (including patient safety, HR, and mental health teams) 

• Education (teachers, pastoral staff, safeguarding leads, headteachers) 

• Prisons and probation (officers, governors, education and rehabilitation staff) 

• Police staff and local authority professionals resolving disputes or complaints 

• Organisations and workplaces (HR professionals, managers, wellbeing leads) 
   

Duration

1.5 days (9 hours)

Delivery 

In-person

Next course dates

21-22 July 2026

Canterbury Campus, University of Kent, Cornwallis Meeting Room 128a, Kent, CT2 7NF

£125 early bird and discounted price £149 full price

Early bird registration is open until 15 July 23.59pm.

A 15% discount is available for University of Kent alumni, registered charities and not-for-profit organisations, and public sector employees.

University of Kent

CPDUK

Dr Giuseppe Maglione is an internationally recognised expert in restorative justice and conflict resolution. A former mediator and restorative justice practitioner with extensive international training experience, he leads the UK’s only university-based Restorative Justice Clinic at the University of Kent and has published widely in the field of restorative justice. He is Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy/Advance HE.