Circle members come together to contribute to serving the circle’s aim. If that is not the case, the circle member might be removed. This might happen if a circle member is not behind the circle’s aim, or if the member’s communication or work style are not contributive or even detrimental to the circle’s work. The reasons for this might be that a circle member is too distracted emotionally to be constructive; it might be due to interpersonal struggles within the circle.
The first attempt will always be to give feedback to that person and to see whether they are aware of their behavior’s impact on the circle. The more specific and doable our requests of that person are, the more likely it will be for that person to act on the feedback. A circle might define other processes that support mutual understanding and cooperation and healing (like processes from restorative justice), like mediation, individual and group processes. If all fails, the circle can remove the circle member from the circle.
For more information, check out our handbook Many Voices One Song sections 4.1-4.3 and 6.10