Juveniles

Articles discussing the use of restorative processes with juvenile offenders.

Burman, John M. Juvenile Injustice in Wyoming

John Burman begins this paper by approvingly citing an admonition written about twenty five years earlier by someone else; namely, that if the Wyoming juvenile court system is to be successful, it will require a single, uniform system of courts with uniform rules and regulations. The admonition still pertains, Burman asserts. Wyoming’s juvenile justice system continues to suffer the same problems and deficiencies. From this perspective, Burman contends for changes in the system to make it effective and just. To make his argument, he first provides an overview of the current juvenile justice system in Wyoming. Then he looks more specifically at the treatment of juveniles in Wyoming’s circuit, municipal, and drug courts. This leads to discussion of general principles of juvenile law, juvenile detention, and options for enhancing juvenile justice. In particular he advocates for family courts to improve Wyoming’s juvenile justice system.

Mirsky, Laura. Restorative Justice Conferencing with Young Offenders at Brookside Youth Centre and Secondary School, Cobourg, Ontario, Canada: Interview with Michael Maguire, Bruce Schenk and Ron Cameron

Brookside Youth Centre, in Cobourg, Ontario, Canada, about 70 kilometers east of Toronto, is a secure residential facility and secondary school for young men who have come into conflict with the law, capacity 106. Brookside is using the Real Justice (an IIRP program) model of restorative justice conferencing. Below are excerpts from an interview with Brookside staff members Michael Maguire, superintendent of administration and programs; Bruce Schenk, chaplain and co-coordinator of the restorative justice program; and Ron Cameron, principal of the secondary school. The interview was conducted at "Building a Global Alliance for Restorative Practices and Family Empowerment, Part Two," the IIRP's Fifth International Conference on Conferencing, Circles and Other Restorative Practices, August 2004, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, where the men appeared as presenters. (excerpt)

Youth Justice Board for England and Wales. Good Practice Guidelines for Restorative Work with Victims and Young Offenders

As noted at the beginning of this document, the aims and objectives of the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales (YJB) are grounded in restorative justice. For example, key elements in those aims and objectives include involvement of victims of youth crime in the youth justice process, as well as assistance to victims to help them get over any harm resulting from the offense. The YJB has encouraged a variety of approaches to restorative practices, yet also has decided to set some standards for effective practice. This document, then, provides certain guidelines for good practices. Performance can be measured against these guidelines. The document consists of an introduction to the YJB and the rationale for guidelines; types of restorative practice; principles for restorative practice; steps in restorative processes; and the use of restorative approaches within the Crime and Disorder Act in England and Wales.

Rieger, Lisa. Cross-Cultural Issues in Informal Juvenile Processes: Applying Urban Models to Rural Alaska Native Villages

Alternatives to court processes -- for example, youth courts -- are often included as part of the restorative justice arena. However, asserts Lisa Rieger, the traditional youth court structure is remote from the reintegrative and balancing characteristics of mediation and arbitration, peacemaking, family group conferencing, and other types of restorative justice practices. Nevertheless, youth court programs are increasingly popular with politicians and policy makers – in some respects more popular than restorative justice processes which may be seen as ambiguous and even inconsistent. Against this background, Rieger explains the basic structure of teen courts, explores the theoretical perspectives that give rise to teen courts as a part of current legal movements, and then applies all of this to the Alaskan context. In particular, she discusses factors that allow local, culturally sensitive justice in Alaskan native villages to interact with state institutions. This Alaskan experience, she claims, is both an example of and a challenge to restorative justice experience.

Koss, Mary and Hopkins, C. Quince and Bachar, Karen J and Koss, Mary. Disposition and Treatment of Juvenile Sex Offenders from the Perspective of Restorative Justice

Restorative justice views crime as harm for which the person responsible must be held accountable by a victim-driven, community-based process. This chapter examines juvenile justice processes in Canada and the US and identifies trends toward more intense punishment, routine lack of attention to victim needs, and underutilization of the family. When cases are referred to therapeutic options, multiple system therapies have the strongest empirical success record. However, these approaches also pay scant attention to healing the impact of crime on victims and family members. Incorporating restorative justice principles could strengthen sex offender treatment by involving the direct victims, fostering shared emotion, acknowledgement of wrongdoing, apology, and reparation. These practices enhance the likelihood that victims are satisfied they have received fair justice, strengthen social control within the community, reduce recidivism, and enhance the benefits to offenders by promoting cognitive reframing, empathy, restoration of self-esteem, and community re-integration. Authors’ abstract.

Vanfraechem, Inge. Conferencing for juveniles committing serious offences in Belgium

In November 2000 a pilot project began in Flanders, Belgium, to offer conferencing for juvenile delinquents committing serious offenses. The project is funded by the Flemish government and evaluated by the Research Group on Juvenile Criminology at the Catholic University of Leuven. Functioning in five districts in Belgium (Antwerp, Brussels, Hasselt, Leuven, and Tongeren), it has dealt with about 60 juveniles and led about 45 conferences. Inge Vanfraechem summarizes the operations and outcomes of this pilot program to date.

O'Brien, Kevin and Rodziewicz, Paulette. Alberta Program Opens Communication Between Communities and Young Offenders

YJC's are comprised of groups of volunteers working in partnership with the justice system, assisting in its response to young offenders ages 12 to 17. YJC's bring together these offenders, victims, and community members to explore and resolve issues, determine and administer non-judicial sanctions, and recommend formal sanctions. They provide an important and valuable opportunity for communities to assume greater ownership of the criminal justice response to offending youths and provide an effective alternative to the formal court process. Throughout Alberta, the solicitor general has formally designated 98 total committees, and more than 1,300 community volunteers are now active in the program providing services to 1,600 youths in conflict with the law. The guidelines for appointment to a YJC include a commitment to the interests of young people, victims, and the community; a representation from the community at large; and the ability to consider all deliberations of the YJC regarding individuals to be confidential. Alberta’s current rate of incarceration for youths is the third lowest among Canadian provinces and territories. It has the second lowest probation rate for youths in the country. Young offenders that have committed a first or second nonviolent offense and have accepted responsibility for their crimes can be referred to the alternative measures program. Alternative measures sanctions can include community service, compensation, education programs, written or personal apologies to victims, and essays or presentations about how offenders’ crimes have affected others. The number of offenders appearing before YJC's has steadily increased each year. The program has earned a gold medal from the Institute of Public Administration of Canada, which is the country’s top award given for excellence in public service administration. Abstract courtesy of National Criminal Justice Refrence Service, www.ncjrs.org.

Griffin, Diarmuid. Restorative Justice, Diversion and Social Control: Potential Problems

This paper will highlight some potential dangers of pursuing the use of restorative justice (RJ) for juvenile offenders in Ireland. It will look at penal reforms of the past; in particular it will look at the work of Stanley Cohen and his examination of the development of “community corrections.” Social control theorists, like Cohen, often view changes in penal structures differently to reformists and examine the underlying impact of expanding the social control apparatus beyond the prison system. In this presentation I intend to use the template used by Stanley Cohen in the 70’s to analyse the development of restorative justice in the juvenile justice system. The dangers highlighted by Cohen will then be applied to restorative practices in order to provide a framework for the critique of this approach. While it is acknowledged that the development of such programmes are essential in developing an appropriate response to juvenile offending it is also important to critically discuss these projects to highlight the problems and potential dangers emerging out of their adoption. The focus of the paper will remain primarily on restorative programmes although many of the criticisms discussed can also be levied at diversionary programmes.

Restorative Justice in the Youth Court: A Square Peg in a Round Hole?

New Zealand is known as a leader in the application of restorative justice to youth offending, with over 80% of juvenile offenses being handled through police diversion. The remaining 16-20% results in formal charges in the youth court. This article provides excerpts of a paper that examines the restorative potential of the New Zealand youth court. The full paper, written by Judge Andrew Becroft, Principal Youth Court Judge, New Zealand Youth Court, is attached.

Involving Victims in Restorative Youth Justice in England through Youth Offender Panels

Youth Offender Panels in England and Wales seek to hold young offenders accountable for their behaviour while involving victims in the process. A recent evaluation of the programme in Leeds found a positive impact on both victims and offenders. In this article, Adam Crawford, one of the researchers, summarizes the findings.

Schulz, Stefan And Hamutenya, Marthinus. (2004). Juvenile Justice in Namibia: Law Reform Towards Reconciliation and Restorative Justice?

In the spirit of 'Ubuntu', a frame of mind prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa, which relates to a specific communal approach to the notion of people, Namibia has set forth to establish a restorative juvenile justice system.

Muhly, Ernest. Appropriate Approaches to Youthful Justice

In this document, Muhly explores restorative and transformative justice in relation to juvenile justice.

Halstead, Sam. Educational Discipline Using the Principles of Restorative Justice

This article shows how restorative justice techniques can be used with students in correctional and alternative education settings.

Fliamer, Mikhail and Karmosova, L M. Juvenile Justice- an overview of experimental projects in Russia

This paper describes juvenile justice developments in Russia. It highlights the work the Centre for Legal and Judicial reform in incorporating restorative justice into the criminal justice system.