Introduction

This chapter is based on the experiences, views and perceptions of managers and care staff. It focuses mainly on staff and managers’ use of restorative justice (RJ) in managing the kinds of behaviours outlined in the previous chapter and their assessment of the effectiveness of this approach. Their views were collated in four main ways: by questionnaires administered in autumn 2006 and again in autumn 2007; by structured group discussions with care staff within the same two time periods; by individual interviews with unit managers, again in the same two periods; and, throughout the research by participation in staff meetings that included presentations of interim findings to managers and key staff involved in implementing the RJ approach. This level of interaction with practitioners helped maintain interest in the research and ensure the relevance of questions asked. Fewer staff completed questionnaires or interviews in 2007 (81 staff), compared with 2006 (113 staff). The main reasons for this were the closure of two of the 10 homes by autumn 2007, working time directives that limited staff availability in some units, and staff vacancies in one unit.

Staff assessment and use of the restorative justice approach

Administering the same questionnaire at two different times meant that it was possible to track any overall change in the assessment and use of the RJ approach. Questionnaires used a Likert scale of 24 statements and asked staff to report on the last instance in which they had used the restorative approach. The Likert scale was short, with four possible ratings for each statement – I representing ‘strongly disagree’ and 4 representing ‘strongly agree’ – as we wanted staff to indicate strength of agreement or disagreement and avoid any ‘sitting on the fence’ by having a middle rating on a five-point scale. Therefore, the higher the rating, the more staff agreed with a particular statement. Responses to statements were grouped into four main categories (see Table 5.1): staff – own practice and competence; using RJ with young people; the impact of RJ; and staff assessment of the practice and understanding of colleagues. Table 5.1 illustrates the broad grouping and direction of change shown by staff responses in the two time periods. The table shows that most care staff, when reporting on their own practice and competence, indicated positive change and found the RJ approach in tune with their professional practice.