Semester of Graduation
Fall 2025
Degree Type
Dissertation/Thesis
Degree Name
Educational Leadership
Department
Bagwell College of Education
Committee Chair/First Advisor
Sheryl J. Croft
Second Advisor
Arvin Johnson
Third Advisor
Alta Broughton
Fourth Advisor
Cedric Masten
Abstract
This hermeneutic phenomenological research study examined the experiences of six educational professionals, including administrators, teachers, and support staff, as they supported justice-involved students in their reintegration into traditional public schools. The study was based on Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, Hirschi’s social control theory, and Glasser’s choice theory. Semistructured interviews were used and revealed six themes: (a) fighting systems while trying to serve students, (b) relationships as safety nets, (c) protecting students from the stigma of judgment, (d) fighting bureaucratic silos, (e) philosophy wars in action, and (f) seeing the whole child. The findings indicated successful reintegration was less connected to formal policies regarding education than it was to the extraordinary efforts educational professionals made to cultivate trusting relationships, navigate segregated systems, and maintain holistic views of students in the face of institutional and systemic barriers. Participants described an enduring but unsustainable toll of emotional labor, professional isolation, and advocacy against systemic barriers. The study shed light on how multiple marginalized identities create compounded barriers to reintegration. There is a need for holistic professional development, formalized interagency protocols, dedicated support positions, systemic restorative practices, and allocation of appropriate resources. Rather than relying on individual heroism of the minority of trainer professionals, successful or sustainable reintegration can necessitate systemic transformation that can, at its center, create relationship-based, culturally relevant, trauma-informed practices for all justice-involved students.