Staff Circles: Do They Really Work?

During Restorative Justice training, we talk about using The Circle System to solve conflicts. Participants nod along and take notes as we explain how we walk campers through the process. But then they inevitably ask: "What about staff?"

What they're really saying is "Okay fine- but if it really worked, you'd solve staff conflicts with circles." And we do. I can think of three circles from this past season that had a profound and lasting effect on me (two of which included me as a participant). This is the story of one of them.