abstract: Implementation of large-scale initiatives within educational systems can present many challenges, particularly when the initiative is non-linear and relies on deep understanding rooted in a restorative mindset. This study examined implementation of restorative justice within one large, primarily urban school district in the United States. Through a mixed methods approach, data was collected from three personnel levels of the organization: district leadership, school leadership, and school staff members and applied a sensemaking framework to examine the flow of information and understanding within and among organizational levels. To accomplish this investigation, both qualitative and quantitative data were collected. First, interview data was collected from district and school level leaders to inform supportive leadership actions and organizational structures and also to understand challenges that leaders faced when working to implement restorative justice within a district and across a school campus. Next, school staff members participated in a survey to provide deeper understanding regarding their confidence in implementing restorative justice practices, their perceptions of school and district level administrative support, and the alignment of their beliefs and actions with tenets of restorative justice. Finally, results were analyzed and compared across levels of the organization to provide a summary of findings and recommendations for ongoing and expanded implementation at the school at the focus of the study and across other schools within the district. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Leadership and Innovation 2020

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The original design of zero-tolerance policies was meant to support school safety through an anti-drug and violence campaign but in the years following their implementation, school districts have employed them repeatedly without merit. Exclusionary practices have become controversial, leading to high rates of recidivism, imbalanced implementation toward minority groups, and the loss of learning while suspended or expelled. Just as effective educators respond and intervene to instructional practices that are not proving successful, an overhaul of disciplinary practices was necessary for academic and emotional health. Restorative practices have emerged in recent years as an alternative process to the antiquated system of exclusionary measures. The previously used disciplinary structure inhibited the education of students, diminished opportunities for relationships to form and flourish, and had the potential to damage the well-being of all students involved in a negative event. In recent years, school districts across the country have recognized a need for improvement in the education system. Educators are spearheading efforts to combat the widespread epidemic of illiteracy and increase the level of college and career readiness. As a result, time, funding, professional development opportunities, and research have been dedicated to support this endeavor. While a number of resources are allotted for instructional purposes, the emotional element of student success is often overlooked, only widening the gap between success and stagnation. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine pre-K through fifth grade teacher perceptions of integrated restorative practices in their respective classrooms and how these practices affected disciplinary measures and intervention.

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Restorative justice emerged in the western world as an alternative to the existing retributive penal system. An alternative that no longer relied on lawyers and judges to resolve criminal matters and community disputes, but rather empowered victims, offenders, and community members to do justice themselves. Throughout the past thirty years restorative justice has distanced itself from the traditional criminal justice system by focusing on repairing the harm caused by an offence rather than charging an offender for committing a crime against the state. This study focuses on the institutionalization of restorative justice. Specifically, this thesis conducts a content analysis of five Canada institutionalized restorative justice programs with the purpose of answering one primary research question. This question asks: are institutionalized restorative justice programs within Canada structured to reflect the core values of restorative justice? In order to answer this question, this thesis analyzes all the available textual documents pertaining to the five selected restorative justice programs for evidence of core restorative justice values and values associated with the co-opting institution, the retributive criminal justice system. This thesis concludes that yes, the five analyzed restorative programs are structured to reflect the core values of restorative justice. Although, the programs are also structured to reflect the core values of the current political ideology of neo-liberalism.

The aim of restorative justice is generally to empower victims and help offenders be accountable for their wrongdoings. In order to achieve these objectives, some programmes of restorative justice facilitate meetings between victims and offenders to give a chance to the victim to participate in deciding how the one who has wronged them can make things right. Some Christians have been among the most active contributors and advocates of implementing restorative justice in the public sphere since its inception. This is because the theory underpinning the approach resonates with Christian concepts such as sin and repentance. By employing in-depth interview analysis as a main method, this thesis demonstrates that engaging in restorative justice is problematic for those Christian advocates who believe they have a monopoly on the inner truth of restorative justice. This is because they operate their mission in a contradictory fashion, whereby they believe that only Christian faith can hold the true ethos of restorative justice, but at the same time need to suspend such language to avoid isolating wider (non-Christian) communities. Expressing such a belief may jeopardise their relationships with non-Christian partners for the advancement of restorative justice, and suspending Christian language may disempower themselves from engaging in the programme. After identifying these risks, the thesis argues that a fundamental problem that advocates encounter is how to deal with non-Christians as the 'other'. I propose that a possible way for advocates to continue their mission is to adopt reflexivity as a socio-political position, which asks of them to reconsider their absolute belief in the Christian approach to restorative justice. They need to be open to recognise their own limitations and adapt the ways in which they are committed to their Christian traditions, not only point out the others' problems.

Restorative justice emerged in the western world as an alternative to the existing retributive penal system. An alternative that no longer relied on lawyers and judges to resolve criminal matters and community disputes, but rather empowered victims, offenders, and community members to do justice themselves. Throughout the past thirty years restorative justice has distanced itself from the traditional criminal justice system by focusing on repairing the harm caused by an offence rather than charging an offender for committing a crime against the state. This study focuses on the institutionalization of restorative justice. Specifically, this thesis conducts a content analysis of five Canada institutionalized restorative justice programs with the purpose of answering one primary research question. This question asks: are institutionalized restorative justice programs within Canada structured to reflect the core values of restorative justice? In order to answer this question, this thesis analyzes all the available textual documents pertaining to the five selected restorative justice programs for evidence of core restorative justice values and values associated with the co-opting institution, the retributive criminal justice system. This thesis concludes that yes, the five analyzed restorative programs are structured to reflect the core values of restorative justice. Although, the programs are also structured to reflect the core values of the current political ideology of neo-liberalism.

Restorative justice has grown within the criminal justice system over the last 30 years. The current academic literature suggests that restorative justice programs provide many positive benefits for the offenders who participate in them; however, there is a lack of research to account for the subjective experiences of program participants. Using qualitative inquiry, the current thesis sought to understand better the meaning, purpose, and impact of restorative justice programs from ten adult offenders participating in one of two restorative justice programs in Southern Ontario: restorative conferencing and victim-offender mediation. Results highlight how offenders report gaining access to the programs, how they describe the programs, significant features of the programs, and long-term impacts of the programs. Recommendations to enhance the meaningfulness for the offenders as well as policy recommendations and areas for future research are discussed. / UOIT

Offenders in some restorative justice programs are required to offer an apology as a condition of successful completion of the restorative justice procedure, or else return to court. Apologies can be required even when victims do not attend the restorative justice procedure. Apologising can result in several benefits for apologisers, but previous research suggests that coercion and lack of victim presence in restorative justice procedures may reduce those benefits. Participants (n = 120) took part in a deceptive live study designed to elicit confessions for a transgression and subsequent apologies. In this study, I manipulated coercion (Coerced, Not coerced) and victim presence (Direct, Surrogate, Ambiguous), to test their effects on the outcome benefits that offenders derived from offering an apology. Findings indicated that victim presence and coercion significantly impact outcome benefits for apologisers, including: perceptions of personal responsibility, accountability for consequences, transgression exaggeration and procedural fairness judgments. Implications for restorative justice programs are discussed. / UOIT

This study tested whether observers’ support for restorative justice is contingent on the perception that an offender deserves respectful treatment. In a 2 (Intent: High, Low) x 2 (Harm: High, Low) x 2 (Provocation: High, Low) between-subjects experimental vignette study, we manipulated circumstances surrounding an assault. Results showed that participants judged the restorative justice procedure to be more respectful than court and whether the offender intended to harm the victim, the amount of harm the victim suffered, and the level of provocation from the victim before the assault impacted participants’ views of how deserving the offender was of respectful treatment. Although there were interactions among the predictors on perceived deservingness of respectful treatment of the offender, perceived deservingness did not predict participants’ choice of restorative justice versus court for deciding the offence. The implications of public support for restorative justice procedures are discussed. / UOIT