Thesis
The emotion work of restorative justice facilitators
- Creator
- Rights statement
- Awarding institution
- University of Strathclyde
- Date of award
- 2026
- Thesis identifier
- T17677
- Person Identifier (Local)
- 201972978
- Qualification Level
- Qualification Name
- Department, School or Faculty
- Abstract
- Restorative justice (RJ) has been promoted as an emotionally intelligent approach to crime (King, 2009; Sherman, 2003) and a process that can both repair the harm caused to victims (Angel et al., 2014; Strang, 2002) and help reduce reoffending (Robinson & Shapland, 2008; Sherman, Strang, & Woods, 2000). While these claims often rest on assumptions about healing, restoration, and the transformative power of emotion (Van Ness et al., 2022; Rossner, 2013), very little is known about how emotions are managed in these encounters or how restorative conferences have the capacity to be emotionally transformative. This research draws on narrative interviews, focus groups, and ethnographic fieldnotes to explore how RJ facilitators perceive and manage emotion in conferencing, the most widely researched model in RJ (Zinsstag & Vanfraechem, 2012). In doing so, it delves into the role of RJ practitioners to understand their occupation – what they do and how they do it – exploring their daily activities, interactions, and relationships. The findings show that facilitators deploy conscious strategies to manage both their own emotions and those of participants so as to maintain neutrality and impartiality. Accomplishing impartiality and neutrality is a central part of the emotion work (Hochschild, 2012) performed by facilitators and the barometer for reflective practice. Specifically, the data reveals that through their performance of ostensibly neutral and impartial communication, RJ facilitators guide and transform participants’ views and emotional displays, transporting them to “a place” where they are more aligned with RJ principles and values and, more broadly, its emotional regime (Reddy, 2001). These findings depart from existing research and literature which has described communication in RJ encounters as predominantly “spontaneous”, “genuine”, and “authentic” (Van Stokkom, 2019). Instead, they call for a reframing of how emotion is understood and expressed in RJ, as something consciously shaped, facilitated, and cultivated over time.
- Advisor / supervisor
- Vermeylen, Saskia
- Tata, Cyrus
- Resource Type
- DOI
Relations
Items
| Thumbnail | Title | Date Uploaded | Visibility | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
PDF of thesis T17677 | 2026-04-23 | Public | Download |