Restorative Justice (RJ) incorporates a variety of principles and practices that seek to repair harm and rebuild relationships (Wachtel, 2016). In the United Kingdom (UK), RJ was originally introduced into the criminal justice context to repair the harm caused by crime. Over the last couple of decades, the principles have been developed to support behaviourist approaches to school discipline and culture that move beyond ‘zero tolerance’ policies (Morrison and Vaandering, 2012). In mainstream education, RJ was initially introduced as an alternative approach to discipline systems that traditionally relied on more punitive approaches such as suspensions and expulsions as methods of behaviour control (Evans and Lester, 2012; Stinchcomb, Bazemore and Riestenberg, 2006).

Persistent disruptive behaviour remains the most common reason for both permanent and fixed period exclusions and boys are over three times more likely to receive an exclusion compared to girls (DfE, 2017, p.5). Early assessment and identification of needs in education settings is a complex process. In relation to ‘conditions’ that are characterised by challenging behaviour, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has achieved what Quinn and Lynch refer to as “celebrity status” often leading to increased pressure on parents/carers and school staff to seek ‘diagnosis’ to ‘control’ this behaviour perceived as inappropriate in the school setting (Quinn and Lynch, 2016, p.59). At the early assessment stage ‘diagnosis’ of ADHD relies on observation and feedback from significant adults in the young person’s life (parents/carers and school staff) in relation to the presence of six or more symptoms of inattentiveness, hyperactivity and impulsiveness from a symptoms checklist. Intrnationally, the disorder is more commonly diagnosed in males in the general population with a ratio of 2:1. (NICE, 2016, American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Some critics of the ADHD ‘construct’ suggest that ADHD “is perhaps nothing more than an example of the ‘medicalisation’ of behaviours in children which are the most annoying and problematic for adults to control” (Quinn and Lynch, 2016).

There is little evidence to suggest that diagnostic based approaches for young children accompanied by medication improve outcomes and in relation to ADHD there is virtually no clinically significant impact on outcomes (Miller, S. Wampold, B. & Varhely, K., 2008). In 2015, the Council of Europe Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development recommended that “member States should address the risk factors leading to misdiagnosis of ADHD” and “should have a comprehensive approach to ADHD treatment, give priority to behavioural interventions and academic support for children with ADHD.” (Council of Europe, 2015, p.1). Inconsistencies in diagnosis mean that there is great variation in prevalence of the condition across European countries. In France for example child psychiatrists do not use the same system of classification as American or UK psychiatrists and have developed an alternative classification system that focuses on identifying and addressing psychosocial causes of symptoms (Wedge, 2012).  A focus on medical treatment to control behaviours often ignores an understanding of the child at an emotional level and does not focus on their relationships with others or their strengths whereas restorative practices provide an explicit framework to address the ‘symptoms’ of ADHD at the emotional and relationship level. These practices engage the young person and their ‘community of care’ (family, school staff, professionals involved with the child) to address the behaviours that are considered unacceptable in the school setting. This research will investigate the use of restorative practices as a relational framework (rather than a medical diagnostic approach) to help understand the problems that are presented by the ‘symptoms’ of ADHD in boys in the primary school setting.

Terry O’Connell (2014) who developed the explicit framework for restorative practices and the restorative questions states that “restorative practice is a way of thinking and being, focused on creating safe spaces for real conversations that deepen relationships and create stronger more connected communities” (O’Connell, 2014). When harm or conflict occurs, restorative practices offer the opportunity for people to tell their stories which can often be denied by traditional state or organisational systems. These often seek to blame and punish rather than understand and repair the harm and ‘steal the conflict’ from the people involved (Christie, 1977). A recent study has shown that the dominant approaches to ADHD and treatments across ten countries (including 5 European countries) “pivot on economic, historical and political issues in addition to cultural values” (Hinshaw et al, 2011). Diverse diagnostic approaches are often linked to these differences in countries and this also impact on rates of pharmaceutical intervention. This research will use a narrative methodology to gain an understanding of the diagnostic approaches associated with ADHD in the UK from the perspective of the child, school staff and parents/carers. Narrative is one of many interpretive approaches used in the social sciences that incorporate the narrator as an active agent in the account allowing individuals to “form and re-form who they have been, are presently and hope to become.” (McAlpine, 2016, p.33). Jane Elliott, defines three key features of narrative, that they are chronological, meaningful and inherently social (Elliott, 2005,) which relates closely to the explicit framework for restorative practices as defined by the International Institute for Restorative Practices (IIRP) including the four key elements of working ‘with’ people, providing a fair process, using the psychology of affect to understand emotions and the chronological nature of the restorative questions (Wachtel, 2016). When eliciting stories about identity in narrative interviews, it is “important to ask the right questions” (Larsson and Sjöblom, 2010). The restorative questions and the research behind their development will be incorporated into the narrative approach and development of the interview schedule for this research.

Challenging behaviour in UK schools continues to be perceived as a problem and exclusions and suspensions continue to rise especially for boys with special educational needs (DfE, 2017). There has also been a rapid increase in the diagnosis of conditions such as ADHD, again with high ratios of boys to girls being diagnosed. The associated increased prescription of stimulants to ‘control’ these undesirable behavioural symptoms of hyperactivity and inattentiveness for children as young as two especially in the USA and the UK has as yet unknown consequences. Little is known about the impact these stimulants may have on brain growth and development and subsequently engagement in learning and future life outcomes. It is argued that the increase in medicalisation of children in our education systems who “simply daydream and don’t pay attention” may be the result of inconsistent diagnosis and treatment of ADHD (Smith, 2010) associated with cultural and historical issues. The diagnosis and prescription of medication are reaching “epidemic proportions” with a doubling of prescriptions of Ritalin in the UK in a decade even though diagnosis is “replete with problems around reliability and validity” (Timimi, 2017, p.2). The international literature around differences in diagnosis and treatment has informed the focus of this research and the fieldwork will be carried out with young people, parents/carers and school staff in the UK. The Norwegian Institute for Public Health suggests that research is needed “that takes cultural factors into account” (Hinshaw et al 2011). This is timely research that will analyse the narratives collected to develop our cultural understanding of ADHD and also explore whether restorative practices can act as both an approach to understanding the stories of those affected as well as providing a more relational and non-medical approach to engaging children with ADHD symptoms more effectively in their education.

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