Restorative Justice in a Rural School in the Faxinal Context

Abstract

Restorative Justice stands out as a theoretical and methodological support in the management of conflict situations, and it can be used in the school environment. The objective of this research was to understand the perception of students and teachers about restorative approaches in situations of violence/conflict in a rural school in the Faxinal context. The community is organized according to characteristics of the Faxinal System, whose peculiarities are still little known and studied within the scientific field. This is a study with a qualitative approach, with a focus group composed of six students, and semi-structured interviews with six teachers who participated in restorative procedures. A thematic content analysis was performed, delimiting two categories. In the first, the perceptions about situations of conflict and violence were identified in the school space of this traditional community in Paraná. In the second category, the perceptions about RJ are explored, based on the experience of the participants; such category of analysis is broken down into subcategories regarding the potential with RJ, such as professional training, self-knowledge, transversality of positions, improvement in academic performance and strengthened school bonds. Thus, it was concluded that RJ is constituted as a theoretical-technical set that expands the possibilities of working in situations of violence/conflict, under a democratic and restorative perspective. From this perspective, thinking about public policies and permanent education processes involving RJ becomes essential, especially in a scenario where current policies are aimed towards school militarization.