Restoration in Youth Justice

Citations Over TimeTop 12% of 2004 papers

Abstract

Except in New Zealand, restorative justice programs and values remain at the fringes of Western youth justice systems. Restorative justice shows potential for gaining a much larger role. Research shows that programs typically gain higher levels of victim and offender satisfaction than traditional approaches, achieve impressively high rates of completion of offenders' agreed obligations, and take better account of victims', offenders', and community interests. Research evidence on reoffending rates and on community effects points toward positive outcomes and does not point toward worse outcomes than existing justice system approaches. Restorative justice is more amenable to incorporating procedural fairness and proportionality than are rehabilitative juvenile justice approaches. Nearly every Western justice system incorporates restorative justice programs and values for some young offenders, typically for less serious offenses, but there is no reason why they need be limited to young offenders or minor crimes.

Related Papers

• → Orientations to juvenile justice: Exploratory notes from a statewide survey of juvenile justice decisionmakers(1988)28 cited
• Juvenile justice today(2004)
• → How Did We Get Here and Where Are We Going-The Future of the Juvenile Court System(1976)4 cited
• → 'Not worse, just different'?: Working with young women in the juvenile justice system: Report of Findings 2: Young women's juvenile justice experiences(1999)2 cited
• → Juvenile justice: a basic framework for the implementation of a functional juvenile justice system(2009)