3.1 Affective Statements & Questions

Affective Statements

Affective statements are brief comments about how others have been affected by an offender’s behavior. They relate directly to the “Nine Affects” discussed in the previous lesson and are important to more formal restorative practices. They are phrased as personal expressions of feeling in response to specific positive or negative behaviors of others. They provide feedback on the impact and scope of the intended or unintended harm that has resulted from a negative behavior or action. Affective statements provide information that can be used to restore a good feeling between all who have been affected when harm has been done to their relationships.

The purpose of affective statements is to humanize the person making them, immediately changing the dynamic. The sharing of feelings is what communicates an understanding of the harm that has been done, and what steps can be taken to improve the relationships in the school community. High quality affective statements can have a significant and cumulative impact in the school.

Some examples of affective statements:

  1. “It makes me unhappy when I hear you teasing other students.”
  2. “I get frustrated when I hear you chatting instead of paying attention in class.”
  3. “I got very upset when I saw you hit her.”

While these statements convey feelings in a personal way, they can be improved upon with affective questions. Before reading the next section, reflect on what you might say differently to achieve the purpose of sharing feelings, while lessening the judgment or blame attached.


Affective Questions

Restorative practices acknowledge the intrinsic worth of the person and their potential contribution to the school, the school community and society (Braithwaite, 1989). Affective questions take a further step, asking the offender to define in his or her own words the actions that were offensive, and how others have been affected.

Examples of higher-quality affective statements incorporating affective questions:

  1. In the first example provided above, the feeling is blamed on the student’s behavior and “teasing” is a judgment. An alternative would be, “When I heard you speaking to her that way, I felt concerned because I value respect for each other. Would you be willing to tell me what you said?” This engages the student in explaining their actions and seeking to understand the root cause.
  2. In the second example, the feeling is also based in blame and accuses the student of being a distraction and not listening, rather than dealing with the teacher’s need to be heard. An alternative would be, “When I hear you talking in class at the same time I am talking, I feel like I am not being heard. Would you be willing to raise your hand when you want to talk, or wait until after I am finished to speak to another student?”
  3. The third example places the ownership of the feeling on the student and may not take into account all of the information related to what actually happened. An alternative would be, “I value the safety of everyone in the school. I thought I saw you putting your hand on her and would like to know what happened between the two of you. Will you share that with me?”

The goal is not to dilute awareness of the negative impact of the behavior, but to present the issue as specifically and precisely as possible while encouraging the student to express his or her own feelings about what happened. By focusing on behavior, and the feelings involved, the teacher or facilitator separates the deed from the person, removing any focus on the intrinsic worth of the individual and reflecting instead on what happened and why.


Assignment:

Reflect on past incidents involving student discipline in which affective statements and affective questions may have been beneficial. Use the Affective Statements and Questions worksheet to compose at least three affective statements you might have or did use. Consider how the statements can lead to affective questions. Write down the affective questions you would use based on the statements and explain what types of responses they are intended to draw from the student and why. When you have completed the document, upload a copy using the tool below, and create a posting in the Course Discussion Forum to share you work. Review the posts of colleagues and comment on them in the forum.

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