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Marilyn Armour
Adjunct Faculty

Marilyn Armour

Adjunct Professor
Center for Justice Reform
Summer Session CJR

PhD, LICSW

Marilyn Armour

Biography

Marilyn Armour, Ph.D. LICSW, is a University Distinguished Teaching Professor at The University of Texas at Austin, and the founder of The Institute for Restorative Justice and Restorative Dialogue located in the Steve Hicks School of Social Work.  She is the author of numerous journal articles, book chapters and four books: At Personal Risk: Boundary Violations in Professional-Client Relationships, Educating for Cultural Competence, Restorative Justice Dialogue (with Mark Umbreit) which is considered “the equivalent of a state-of-the-union address for the restorative justice movement,” and, most recently,

Violence, Restorative Justice and Forgiveness: Dyadic Forgiveness and Energy Shifts in Restorative Justice Dialogue.  Dr. Amour’s research focuses on family members of homicide victims including domestic fatalities, meaning-making in survivorship, and the effectiveness of restorative justice initiatives.  She received the University of Texas 2013 research award for her ground-breaking study of the ultimate penal sanction comparing the post homicide experience of survivors in Texas (death penalty) and Minnesota (Life Without the Possibility of Parole). In 2017, she received the inaugural Research/Journalism Award from the National Association of Community and Restorative Justice.

 

As a restorative justice practitioner and scholar, Dr. Armour promotes building mindsets that embrace victim-centered restorative justice principles including victim healing and the building of community through restorative solutions to harm. Dr. Armour is the architect of the Texas Model of Restorative Discipline to redirect the over-reliance on punitive measures that, in effect, exclude students from the classroom and has directed the initiative in partnership with the Texas Education Agency to implement it state-wide in Texas, the first state in the country to undertake this effort. The Institute for Restorative Justice and Restorative Dialogue is considered a national leader in the restorative justice field and noteworthy for establishing Best Practices for school-based restorative justice.