Anti-Oppressive Restorative Justice: Behavior Analysis in Alternatives to Policing

Leland et al. (2022) wrote a think-piece. They asked: can restorative justice fit inside ABA ethics?

They mapped circle processes, victim-offender meetings, and community reparations onto the BACB code. They did not run an experiment. They built a blueprint.

The authors show restorative justice and ABA share four pillars: dignity, accountability, reparation, and prevention of future harm.

They give step-by-step ways to replace police calls with facilitated meetings that still collect data on amends and re-offense.

McDonald et al. (2024) counted only 12 behavior studies inside the whole criminal-justice system. Leland’s paper answers that gap by offering a ready-made, non-punitive model.

Oliver et al. (2002) warned we still lean on punishment because we lack other tools. Leland supplies one: restorative circles that measure restitution instead of time-outs.

Graber et al. (2023) told us to drop neurotypical goals and listen to autistic voices. Leland makes the same move for court-involved people: center the harmed party’s needs, not the system’s rules.

You can start tomorrow. When a client damages property or hurts a peer, skip the suspension. Invite the harmed person, the client, and two trained facilitators. Set a simple operational goal: client offers a repair (clean graffiti, write apology, pay $5). Track completion and any repeat behavior across five days. One sheet of graph paper, zero police, same data you already love.