Restorative Justice Clinic

Restorative Justice Clinic

The Restorative Justice Clinical Program

The Restorative Justice Clinical Program is an innovative suite of experiential learning activities, based at the University of Kent. Launched in January 2023, 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 Director of the Program is Dr Giuseppe Maglione, a restorative justice expert and practitioner with extensive experience.

SSPSSR student
Being involved in restorative justice fosters a sense of empowerment and agency.

Simran Abdullatif Soor BA Criminology and Sociology (Hons)

Restorative Justice

Restorative justice is an umbrella term which incorporates a variety of practices, aiming to prevent conflicts and harms, or to deal with their consequences, through voluntary dialogue and by emphasising accountability, collaboration, and reparation.

Restorative justice seeks to modify unbalanced power relations, changing social practices and institutions by promoting a culture of inclusion, dialogue, non-violence and attention to vulnerable individuals and groups.

The Clinical Program's Structure

The Restorative Justice Clinical Program consists of four different activities:

  • The optional module Restorative Justice: Concepts, Issues, Debates SOCI6810/SOCI6811 - taking place during the Spring Term, this module focuses on the theory, history, and policy on restorative justice, nationally and internationally.
  • The optional module Restorative Justice in Action SOCI6820 - organised as a two-week long summer school on the practice of restorative justice, this module aims 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 develop a relevant intervention.
  • Bespoke Professional Development Courses aiming to educate and train students in restorative justice theories and practices, through a critical lens.
Profile picture of student Charlie WHale

A students' perspective on the RJC summer school

BA Criminology student Charlie Whale talks through the benefits of the Restorative Justice Clinic module

Key links and information

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Contact us

To find out more about the Restorative Justice Clinical Program or to arrange an appointment please:

Email the Director Dr Giuseppe Maglione at g.maglione@kent.ac.uk

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 through 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 and follow-up. Collective and one-to-one feedback is provided to support students’ reflective practice.
  • Students attend regular group discussion sessions led by the Director.