Restorative mediation with juvenile participants: A comparative study of school conflict and criminal case programs

Context and relevance. Adolescence is the most vulnerable in the context of the destructive form of conflict, which is associated with the desire for self-affirmation, building boundaries and lack of communicative and conflict competencies. One of the ways to constructively resolve disagreements and gain new experience is to conduct restorative mediation, which involves the involvement of a third party to organize a safe atmosphere and dialogue, addressing the feelings and needs of the parties. Goal. To conduct a comparative analysis of two areas of implementation of restorative mediation — school conflicts and criminal cases involving minors. Methods and materials. The study was conducted by qualitative analysis, using both deductive and inductive categorization strategies. In total, 15 descriptions of programs on criminal cases involving minors and 25 texts describing programs on school conflicts were analyzed. Results. A comparative analysis allowed us to identify three key differences between restorative mediation in school conflicts: 1) Blurring the boundaries between the role of the abuser and the victim, which highlights the complexity of the social context and social connections in the school environment; 2) In the case of school situations, each incident has its own background to the conflict; 3) School curricula note the participation of classmates in the conflict, with whom it is also necessary to conduct a program. Conclusions. The practical implementation of rehabilitation programs reflects the main theoretical postulates of the rehabilitation approach. At the same time, the school environment is characterized by a greater complexity of social interaction, the need to take into account the history of communication between the parties, discuss further communication, as well as work not only with the direct participants of the program, but also their friends and classmates.