Faculty Bio

Sarah Roth Shank

Part-Time Instructor in the Department of Sociology & Anthropology

Education

• B.A., history, Eastern Mennonite University
• Master's, conflict transformation, Eastern Mennonite University
• Ph.D., public policty and restorative justice, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand

About

Dr. Sarah Roth Shank is an instructor in the Department of Sociology & Anthropology. She is an organizational culture specialist, with a focus in restorative practices. She has worked in the restorative justice sector for over a decade as an educator, researcher and practitioner. She holds a Ph.D. in public policy and restorative justice from Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. Her research focuses on how the institutionalization of restorative justice within the criminal legal sphere can inform the growth and development of restorative justice and practice in institutions and systems more widely. Sarah has worked on a range of projects in the private and public sectors and in higher education focusing on the institutional design and implementation of restorative initiatives; these include working with the New Zealand Ministry of Justice sector group, serving as a facilitator and researcher for the Ministry of Health's restorative response to surgical mesh harm, and assisting with the development of Victoria University's restorative university initiative. Prior to living in Aotearoa New Zealand, Sarah lived and worked in Virginia, where she was the Director of Admissions at the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University.

Sarah is equally passionate about working towards wholeness on the interpersonal level as she is on the systemic level. She is trained in Defense Victim Outreach (DVO), restorative facilitation and circle processes, and regularly conducts workshops and training for workplaces. Sarah moved to Columbus from Wellington, New Zealand in the summer of 2026 with her husband and two young children. Sarah enjoys pilates, playing field hockey and running when time allows, spending time with her family, exploring new places, and drinking a good flat white.

Areas of Expertise

• Restorative Justice Theory and Practice
• Criminal Justice Reform
• Organizational Culture
• Conflict Resolution
• Facilitation
• Public Policy
• Institutional Design & Change
• Sociological Theories of Change

Publications

• Considerations in Consultation and Co-Design: An Assessment of Hāpaitia te Oranga Tangata Safe and Effective Justice Programme in Aotearoa New Zealand. Australia and New Zealand School of Government, John L. Alford Case Library: Canberra. DOI: 10.5481/OPSO2883.
• Congruent or Contradictory? What Isomorphism Teaches Us About the Relationship Between Restorative Justice and the Mainstream Criminal Justice System (2024). Chapter in Restorative Justice at a Crossroads: Dilemmas of Institutionalisation.
• Crime, Justice, and the Law, co-authored with Tom Noakes-Duncan (2021). Chapter in Social Policy in Aotearoa New Zealand.     
• "Crisis" of Incarceration: Responding with a Restorative Reorientation of the Criminal Justice System (2019). Women Talking Politics: New Zealand Political Studies Association Te Kāhui Tātai Tōrangapū o Aotearoa. Republished in Newsroom.
• Two Strands of Restorative Justice: Exploring Growth of Formal Systems and Community Engagement (2017). ACResolution.