What does “responsabiliser” mean in French?

English needs a phrase for what responsabiliser does in one word: to make someone see that they are responsible for their own actions and to give them a real share of the job. It is built from responsable plus the verb ending -iser. Schools, employers and parents use it, often as the friendly alternative to punir (“to punish”).

The clip is built around the contrast: a school in the Drôme lets misbehaving pupils volunteer with charities such as the Restos du cœur instead of being excluded, because the goal is responsabiliser les élèves plutôt que les punir. You can also use the reflexive form for yourself: se responsabiliser means to start owning your choices. The noun is la responsabilisation.