Practicing Restorative Justice in School Communities: The Challenge of Culture Change.

Source: (2005) Public Organization Review: A Global Journal. 5: 335–357.

The practice of restorative justice in schools has the capacity to build social and human capital
through challenging students in the context of social and emotional learning. While restorative justice
was originally introduced in schools to address serious incidents of misconduct and harmful behavior,
the potential this philosophy offers is much greater. The conviction is that the key challenge for
schools is addressing the culture change required to make the shift from traditional discipline, driven
by punitive (or rewards based) external motivators, to restorative discipline, driven by relational
motivators that seek to empower individuals and their communities. (author’s abstract).