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Abstract. In its original conception Restorative Justice was an innovative process adopted to address criminal behaviour in such a way as to reduce re-offending and, subsequently, to increase victim satisfaction. In the past 20 years the philosophy, values, principles, skills and applications of restorative justice have been applied in all manner of hitherto unforeseen ways. This paper reflects on the benefits to staff teams themselves of adopting a restorative culture in their own workplaces and the role of their senior managers and leaders in modelling this new way of thinking and behaving. Reference is made to developments in schools, the author's main area of experience and expertise, and a major source of international inspiration for the growth of other restorative milieus. The lessons learnt in implementing culture change in school settings is being applied more widely as an increasing number of public sector employees in particular learn about what restorative practice can do not only for their daily interactions with clients and service users but also in-house, for themselves as a team.
Keywords: restorative justice, restorative practice, culture transformation
Introduction
Much has been written about the impact of Restorative Justice1 interventions on those involved in situations where there has been a criminal offence, wrongdoing, harm or anti-social behaviour. The literature about Restorative Justice has, for the last 20 years, been of a pioneering nature - making the case for what was initially an innovative approach to offending behaviour; debating what is and isn't 'restorative', discussing its limitations and its versatility. This paper differs in that the main focus of attention is not on criminal justice services, nor simply on responsive 'victim-offender' interventions. Instead it considers the contribution that restorative approaches can make in public sector services, in institutions, organizations and indeed in most public or private work places. More specifically it pays attention to the impact on staff in these environments and also on the leadership teams when a restorative culture is adopted, not just for client/service user interaction but internally and systemically - as 'the way we do things around here'.
The paper begins with some historical context to link where I believe the field is now to where it has come from. This paper identifies how Restorative Justice and its philosophy, practice...