Date of Award

January 2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Educational Leadership

First Advisor

Zarrina Azizova

Abstract

This exploratory case study, conducted at the University of North Dakota (UND), examined factors influencing recidivism and student perceptions of institutional care and fairness among participants in the piloted Informal Resolution (IR) option. A restorative justice (RJ)-informed alternative to the traditional student conduct process, the IR is offered to students charged with first-time, low-level violations of UND’s code of conduct. This study aimed not only to evaluate the new process but also to respond to recent calls from scholars and practitioners for more extensive research on the intersection of RJ and student conduct outcomes. Sherman’s (1993) defiance theory provided the primary theoretical framework, emphasizing offenders’ affective experiences of disciplinary intervention—particularly their perceptions of care and fairness—and impacts on recidivism. A quantitative research design was used, analyzing data from all IR cases completed between Fall 2022 and Spring 2024 (n = 238). A follow-up survey (n = 12) was administered to gain further insights regarding participants’ perceptions of institutional care and fairness. A key finding from this study was that, at the time of data collection, 88.2% of students who completed an IR had no subsequent violations on record. Statistically significant predictors of recidivism were initial charges related to drugs/paraphernalia and theft/property damage. This study offers implications for future theory-to-practice, including institution-specific refinements to the IR process intended to enhance student prosocial and moral development. It also proposes sharing synergies between student moral development theory and contemporary student conduct practices through publication in a scholarly periodical.

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