Juvenile Justice

Similar to other areas, the movement toward restorative justice has started with changes in the juvenile justice system.

. Mediation as a restorative approach to dealing with juvenile crime in the Czech Republic.

The Czech Republic has a population of approximately 10 million people. The Probation and Mediation Service of the Czech Republic (PMS) was founded in January 2001. IN 2009,the PMS had 340 probation officers and assistants. The PMS operates with approximately 28,000 cases per year, 14% of the cases are connected to juveniles. In the Czech Republic the judicial system is divided into 8 court regions with 74 court districts 9and 74 PMS centres). Each PMS centre has one specialised officer who focuses on issues related to juveniles. According to the Czech Youth Justice Act (YJA) this specialised officer has to receive special training on methods of working with juveniles, their families and on cooperating with other professionals (social workers, teachers, psychologists, lawyers, etc.). (excerpt)

. Mediation in cases of juvenile offenders in Croatia.

Although victim offender mediation is not a brand new idea, it exists in Croatia only since 2001 and only as a pre-trial procedure for juvenile offenders. Its development was enabled by multiple changes happening simultaneously both globally and locally. During the nineties, Croatia was going through war and post-war problems. Transition to a new type of society included processes like democratization, differentiation, privatization, Europeanization and revitalization of religion. These processes created new needs and opportunities for citizens, as well as new personal and social problems. One of the problems was that existing strategies were not able to reduce new and old types of juvenile crime. On the other hand, this created an opportunity to get to know and to try to follow the world-wide changed perspective on juvenile justice. Focus was especially placed on restorative justice trends in Europe, children's rights movement as well as changes regarding trends of law and treatment in neighbouring countries, especially Austria and Slovenia. (excerpt)

. National evaluation of restorative justice youth services in Scotland 2008-2009.

Almost all services were able to provide Face-to-Face Meetings (95%), Victim Awareness (95%) and Shuttle Dialogue (90%), which reflects the guidance categories. However, almost half the Restorative Justice processes did not involve any communication processes; the focus of work was predominantly Victim Awareness with the Person Responsible. With this Victim Awareness work, in only around 16% of cases was the Person Harmed informed or involved. Persons Harmed clearly liked the constructive nature of the processes involving direct communication, giving them a sense of closure. Responses from both persons Responsible and Persons Harmed reported the benefits of participating in Restorative Justice processes featuring direct communication. (excerpt)

. Restorative approaches in residential child care.

Statistics show that young people in residential child care are disproportionately represented in the criminal justice arena.This situation has arisen not necessarily because children in care are more likely to offend but because, in the absence of effective alternatives, the response of care staff to extremely disruptive behaviour has often been to call the police, who, when they arrive, are obliged (again, in the absence of effective alternatives) to deal with the behaviour as if it were a crime.11 It has been argued that using a restorative approach instead can divert children in care from the criminal justice system by ensuring that the incident is dealt with by staff in such a way that both wrongdoer and those affected reach a mutually agreed way forward without recourse to the police. This reasoning was the rationale behind the introduction of a formal process called ‘restorative conferencing’ into certain children’s care homes several years ago. (excerpt)

. Restorative practices and juvenile offenders in Ireland.

There are two methods of juvenile diversion in Ireland. Depending on the particular circumstances of a case, they are conducted by An Garda Siochana (the Irish National Police Force) and by the Probation Service. ...The purpose of diversion is to provide a means of dealing with offending children other than by way of prosecution and by diverting them from offending. (excerpt)

. Slow motion: restorative justice developments for juveniles in the Netherlands.

Though there are some promising restorative justice (RJ) developments for juveniles in the Netherlands, the pace is rather slow and the impact limited, especially in comparison with countries like Belgium and Germany, but also from a global perspective. The EU Framework Decision and project evaluations led to a decision in 2007 to offer victim-offender mediation (VOM) to all victims of a criminal offence, but many other RJ initiatives have ceased or need to obtain financial support. The government is relucant to make longer term decisions on the continuation of, for example, the successful experiments in youth custodial institutions (YCIs). (excerpt)

. Youth Crime Action Plan 2008.

The Youth Crime Action Plan is a comprehensive, cross-government analysis of what further we need to do to tackle youth crime. It sets out a ‘triple track’ approach of enforcement and punishment where behaviour is unacceptable, non-negotiable support and challenge where it is most needed, and better and earlier prevention. It makes clear that we will not tolerate the behaviour of the minority which causes misery and suffering to others, especially their victims who, more often than not are other young people. People have a responsibility to obey the law if we are to deliver fairness and prosperity to all communities. (excerpt) The use of restorative processes is a part of the plan.

. Youth crime: Whose responsibility?

Responsibility is an increasingly important concept within both political and academic debates about youth justice. As an alternative approach to youth crime, restorative justice ideology has contributed to this debate. Restorative justice emphasizes the importance of repairing harm by encouraging offenders to address past behaviour and to become responsible for future actions. This article reflects on empirical findings from the author's research with 41 young offenders who were the subjects of referral orders, a purportedly restorative disposal. It considers how successfully the English youth justice system has adopted this approach, arguing that there is a significant difference between the theory of restorative justice and its use in practice. To some extent, New Labour's emphasis on the criminal justice system has missed the point behind the ideology of restorative justice and the wider opportunities it offers for a proactively restorative society. (author's abstract)

. The introduction of restorative justice approaches in young people’s residential units: A critical evaluation .

Restorative justice was introduced as a way of dealing with interpersonal conflicts, as well as with residents’ criminal and anti-social behaviour. This report evaluates the influence of restorative justice on young people and staff, and their experiences of its effects as a means of dealing with residents’ criminal acts, anti-social behaviour and interpersonal conflicts. It also analyses the effect that its introduction had on police call-outs to the four residential units. (excerpt)

A review of the Youth Justice System in Northern Ireland

from the report by the Department of Justice Northern Ireland: One of the most positive developments to have arisen out of Northern Ireland’s recent history is the expansion of rich and varied restorative practices. Restorative approaches have been used to respond to offending and anti-social behaviour, family disputes, disruptive behaviour in schools and children’s homes and in helping prisoners reintegrate back into their communities. Early teething problems have been largely overcome and professional practice in restorative justice in Northern Ireland is now internationally recognised.

Allen, Rob. "‘There Must be Some Way of Dealing with Kids’: Young Offenders, Public Attitudes and Policy Change"

NNew Labour’s youth justice reforms have left progressives disappointed by a failure to take more radical steps to raise the age of criminal responsibility and phase out penal custody. This paper argues that the basic punitive orientation governing youth justice policy was established in the early 1990s, in the wake of concern about persistent juvenile offenders and the high-profile James Bulger case. The punitive orientation of policy is apparently supported by public opinion, or at least the perception of public opinion held by policy makers. The paper summarises what is known about public attitudes to adult and juvenile offenders and suggests a strategy to increase understanding and raise the level of debate, which are prerequisites for any fundamental change in policy orientation. (author's abstract)

Allen, Rob. From Punishment to Problem Solving: A New Approach to Children in Trouble.

This report looks at one of the key priorities for the New Labour administration in 1997, dealing with young offenders. Reforming youth justice was not only an end in itself. The new government observed that most adult offenders in the prisons started their offending careers as children and young people. By creating responses to youth crime which were more effective in turning young people away from delinquency, it was hoped to provide substantial benefits for society as a whole. (excerpt)

Axing the Youth Justice Board could be a bold step

from Rod Morgan's article on guardian.co.uk: For the past few months I have argued that a question mark should hang over the continued existence of the Youth Justice Board. There may yet be a downside to its abolition, announced in the quango cull. But I am not in mourning and doubt I will be.... What should be done? First, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), Home Office and Department for Education should jointly ensure that there is more out-of-court diversion of young offenders accompanied by interventions of a supportive nature, based on the lessons of the Scottish children's hearings system.

Balahur, Doina and Brutto, Sabrina and Padovani, Alessandro and Balahur, Doina. Probation and Restorative Justice in Romania and Italy.

This book reviews recent trends in European-style juvenile justice systems and explores diversionary and alternative dispute resolution strategies. The lines of enquiries developed within this book argue for the possibility and desirability of special treatment for children in the juvenile justice system. Part I, "Probation and Restorative Justice in Romania," maps the competing trends and models of juvenile justice while attempting to identify where Romanian juvenile justices stands among them. The content of Part I includes: Competing Models of Juvenile Justice: Social-Legal Perspectives and Applied Research of Social Work; Juvenile Offenders Who Are Not Criminally Responsible: The Potential of Restorative Justice; and, Romanian Probation System between Past and Future. Part II,"Probation and Restorative Justice in Italy," examines the complex problems of juvenile delinquency in Italy. The content of Part II includes: Restorative Justice: An International and Critical Overview; Juvenile Delinquency: The Italian Context; The Italian Juvenile Justice System: An Introduction; and, Probation and Educational Measures for Juveniles in Italy. Part III, "Italian and Norwegian Restorative Justice Experiences," offers a comparative analysis of restorative justice in Italy and Norway within the frame of the European project, COST A21. The content of Part III includes: Looking into the Question of Marginalization of Juveniles by Comparing Italian and Norwegian Restorative Justice Experiences. (Abstract courtesy of the National Criminal Justice Reference Service, www.ncjrs.gov).

Balahur, Doina. Romanian juvenile justice system towards its way to restorative practices.

The practice of VOM in Romania has been experimentally undertaken in Bucharest and Craiova. The two experimental centres have been set up in 2002 based on the partnership between the Department of Reintegration from Romanian Ministry of Justice, Centre for Legal Resources and the Foundation Family and Child Care. The technical assistance has been provided by the experts of DFID from UK. According to the aims and objectives of the VOM experiment only those types of crimes have been selected which are based on the criminal complain of the victim (battering, assault and other crimes against the person, insult etc). The persons - victims and young offenders - have been integrated based on their voluntary consent. (excerpt)

Baldry, Anna C and Scali, Melania and Volpini, Laura and Scali, Melania. "Mediation in the Italian juvenile justice system: A mediation service project."

The authors of this article survey the status and function of mediation in the Italian juvenile justice system – at the time of writing, mediation was not available in the adult system in Italian. Restorative justice principles were introduced into the Italian juvenile justice system in 1988 in accord with United Nations’ Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice. Topics discussed include the following: the justice system perspective on the nature of juvenile offending; the administration of mediation within the system; and the development of a new, independent mediation service by a group of experts at the University of Rome.

Blackburn, Maddie. Report on: Oxfordshire Youth Offending Service

The Oxfordshire Youth Offending Service operates across a large county. It is one of the largest youth offending services inspected in the first phase of the inspection program conducted by the Healthcare Commission and other agencies of the national government. The first several years after implementation of the national youth justice reforms in April 2000 have seen significant changes. Youth offending teams (YOT) have been established across England and Wales; new orders and interventions have been introduced; a common assessment system has been developed; and more emphasis has been given to a range of approaches, including prevention, restorative justice, and victim services. This then is the first full inspection in the context of these changes. This report covers the following aspects of the Oxfordshire Youth Offending Service: management and partnership arrangements; children and young people who offend or who are at risk; work with parents and caregivers; and work with victims.

Bolkovaya, Svetlana. Urai: Idea Infection

Svetlana Bolkovaya is the restorative justice program coordinator in Urai in Russia. With the rate of juvenile delinquency in Uria increasing in recent years, it became clear to criminal justice officials and others that the accepted measures of dealing with juvenile offenders and their parents were not successful. New approaches were needed to respond to juveniles with destructive and deviant behavior, as well as with troubled families. Therefore, in 2000 she and others took part in a restorative justice seminar in Tyumen, the seminar being led by the Public Centre for Legal and Judicial Reform. Bolkovaya explains how this led to the development of restorative justice initiatives in Urai, and she describes some of the cases being handled through restorative principles and processes.

Campbell, Catriona and O'Mahony, David. Mainstreaming Restorative Justice for Young Offenders through Youth Conferencing - the experience of Northern Ireland

The youth justice system in Northern Ireland is quite distinct and different to that in the rest of the United Kingdom or Ireland. It has also evolved considerably in the past ten to fifteen years and there have been very significant changes to its whole philosophy and operation as recently as 2003, with the introduction of a Youth Conferencing Service. The Conferencing Service now deals with young offenders using an approach based around the principles of restorative justice and the very process and structure of the system has changed to incorporate this new approach (detailed below). This paper looks at crime and how the criminal justice system in Northern Ireland deals with young people who have offended. It examines what is known about youth offending in general and looks specifically at a number of innovative approaches to criminal justice practice. The police response to youth offending is examined and their specialist teams of officers who deal with young offenders. The courts and sentencing are then looked at with attention being placed on the new arrangements for holding children in custody. The range of measures introduced following the Criminal Justice Review are then examined, and specifically the youth conferencing arrangements, which adopt a restorative justice model to deal with young offenders. The paper draws to a close with a critical overview of the major changes in our system of youth justice and the possible lessons that can be learnt from an international perspective. (excerpt)

Chapman, Alice and McAllister, Mary Jo. No soft solution, the effectiveness of youth conferencing in Northern Ireland -- How victims and offenders of serious crime prefer it to the traditional system.

The Belfast Agreement 1998 set out new directions for government in Northern Ireland including criminal justice. It formed the Criminal Justice Review to review the whole criminal justice system and to produce a range of recommendations. Amongst many other matters it recommended that restorative justice should be at the core of the Northern Irish youth justice system. Subsequently the Justice [NI] Act 2002 provided legislation for the establishment of the Youth Justice Agency and the Youth Conference Service to facilitate youth conferences according to restorative justice principles. A restorative youth conference is available for any offence except an offence for which if the young person was an adult would require a period of life imprisonment.(excerpt)