Restorative justice: not “rights”, but the right way to heal relationships at work

Abstract

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to explore the concept of restorative justice as a tool for rebuilding trust and repairing damaged relationships in the workplace. Design/methodology/approach -The literature on restorative justice, found predominantly in the criminology field, is reviewed, and the origins and tenets of restorative justice are explained. Findings -Research suggests that the goals of restorative justice are to repair the harm after a damaging incident, to repair the damaged relationship between the two parties in conflict, and restore the offender back to the community. Originality/value -Restorative justice promises to address the issue of repairing damaged relationships at work, a critical problem in organizations that has yet to be thoroughly addressed in the management literature.

Consumer-brand relationships under the effect of consumer dishonest behavior

“…If they feel victimized by an unfair social exchange during consumercompany interactions, they will be driven to restore a sense of balance in the relationship (Kidder, 2007). The desire to restore the balance may lead them to engage in dishonest behavior.…”

And restorative justice for all: Redemption, forgiveness, and reintegration in organizations

“…Every transgression has its unique features and so managers need to rely on a combination of experience, wisdom, recognition of the seriousness of the offense, and an understanding of the ultimate goal being sought to effectively decide when restorative justice might be appropriate. What we propose here, though, is that there may be many instances (e.g., non-criminal workplace conflicts (Kidder, 2007)) where restorative justice approaches can yield important benefits through healing victims, offenders, and relevant stakeholders.…”

“…With a few exceptions (Kidder, 2007), organizational researchers have not actively pursued the topic of restorative justice. To encourage such investigations, we examine three behaviors at the heart of the restorative justice perspective through which offenders (making amends), victims (extending forgiveness), and organizations and their stakeholders (fostering reintegration) might pursue restorative justice in workplace settings.…”

Spirituality at the workplace and its role on organizational justice

“…They argued that there could be different definitions for the meaning of "spirituality" because of the very strong personal nature of the word itself and explained that this multiple view of spirituality was a positive thing for organizations if managers attempt to understand differing spiritual views and they are interested in different views within an organization. Kidder (2007) explored the concept of restorative justice as a tool for rebuilding trust and repairing damaged relationships in the workplace. Kidder recommended that the objectives of restorative justice are to repair the harm after a damaging accident, to repair the damaged relationship between the two parties in conflict, and to recover the offender back to the community.…”