Contact us at: (706) 206-7472
Georgia Conflict Center is committed to building peace with justice by advancing restorative practices within communities, schools and institutions.
Georgia Conflict Center is a non-profit organization that works with local schools, businesses, jails, and many others to reduce conflict and address violence.
Georgia Conflict Center promotes peacemaking within the local community to reduce conflict. We address violence through educational, skill-building exercises focused on changing perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors. We believe that anyone can be a diplomatic community ally. Allies create public awareness of nonviolence as a necessity for humanity. We strive to break the cycle of violence in the home and community, whether it be physical, verbal, or emotional abuse.
What is ‘restorative’? We use the term restorative to mean possible solutions or agreements that restore all of us to our best selves. For example, if a student yells at a teacher during class, the student has affected herself, the teacher, and disrupted the entire classroom. Instead of retribution (suspension, expulsion), a more restorative solution might be a restorative circle between student, her parent, the teacher, and a counselor. The circle creates a space for expressing unmet needs or frustrations that underlie the outburst and, as importantly, a new strategy that both supports the student and helps mitigate future outbursts. Depending on the nature of the disruption or harm, a restorative circle might include all members of the class. Restorative practices build social-emotional skills, stimulate creative problem-solving, and increase accountability and trust.
Two related approaches to conflict and harm underlie most of GCC’s work: Nonviolent Communication and Restorative Justice.
"I can't tell you all enough how grateful we are for your restorative work with our students. The only thing we want to figure out is how do we get you here more often?"
"In my 20 years at CMS/ CCSD, I have never seen anything like the recorded apology that students participated in. Their authentic and personalized words were really powerful and definitely suggested a culture shift in how we respond to conflict and the potentiality of helping students develop tools to help restore relationships."
"Restorative Justice is not a simple solution--it is hard work and it is not a quick fix, but it is compelling because as you are doing it, you realize that it is the exact work that we should be doing...should always have been doing."