Juvenile Justice

A concern over the incarceration of juvenile offenders was a major impetus in the implementation of what came to be known as restorative justice in the Pacific.

. A history of youth justice in New Zealand.: The Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act 1989 revolutionised New Zealand youth justice practices, establishing an innovative set of principles and procedures to govern the response to young offenders, and to manage the role of the State in the lives of young people and their families. The founding objective of the legislation is ‘to promote the wellbeing of children, young persons, and their families and family groups’ (section 4). The Act thus seeks to empower families and communities, rather than professionals, in deciding the best measures to respond to offending behaviour in children and young people This report will explore the background to the youth justice provisions of the Act, both internationally and domestically, with the hope that an understanding of the system’s evolution will render a better insight into the principles behind this innovative piece of legislation. (excerpt)
. How to turn a child offender into an adult criminal -- in 10 easy steps.: In practice, the New Zealand system encapsulates restorative justice ideologies, by including the victim in the decision-making process and encouraging the mediation of concerns between the victim, the offender and their families to achieve reconciliation, restitution and rehabilitation. The New Zealand system, especially the family group conference, has been practised as a restorative justice system, though this was not necessary to conform to the provisions of the Act. Restorative justice is nowhere mentioned in the Act, yet a restorative justice approach is entirely consistent with its objects and principles. In fact, “restorative justice” thinking and practice had barely begun at the time the Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act 1989 was being discussed. Thus, the system follows restorative justice techniques although the black letter law did not explicitly envisage this outcome. (excerpt)
. In courtroom 7 -- The children's Koori Court at work. Findings from an Evaluation.: This article reports some of the findings of an evaluation of the Children’s Koori Court (CKC)—the first legislated effort in Australia to involve the Indigenous community in the sentencing of young Aboriginal offenders as a strategy for reducing their overrepresentation in the juvenile justice system. A prominent feature of this court of summary jurisdiction is that the presiding magistrate, while remaining the sentencing authority, is assisted by Aboriginal Elders. This article focuses on the evaluation findings that were derived from observations of the CKC in action. They indicate that the operational objective of cultural responsiveness was realized. They also point to realization of the community-building goal—fostering Indigenous ownership of the administration of the law. Little slippage was found between the CKC’s design and operation, although some areas of improvement were identified. Nevertheless, the scope for the CKC by itself to significantly reduce overrepresentation is limited. (Author's abstract)
. Police diversion of young offenders and Indigenous over-representation.: This study aimed to contribute to the emerging literature examining disparity in the use of police diversion and whether the impact of police diversion on re-contact varies based on Indigenous status. The study addressed three research questions: • What proportion of Indigenous and non-Indigenous young people had contact with the juvenile justice system and what was the extent of this contact? • What processes were used to respond to offending by Indigenous and non- Indigenous young people and was there disparity based on Indigenous status? • What impact did police diversion have on re-contact with the juvenile justice system for Indigenous and non-Indigenous young people? (excerpt)
. Restorative Justice Principles in Youth Settings – final report.: This report contains eight chapters which detail the implementation of restorative justice principles in the ACT educational and justice settings. The report makes a number of recommendations which the Committee considers will help sustain restorative approaches into the future. (excerpt)
. Te Hurihanga Pilot: Evaluation report.: Te Hurihanga (The Turning Point) is a Ministry of Justice response to the problem of youth offending. It is a three-year pilot that reflects concerns about trends in youth offending and lack of suitable options open to the judiciary when dealing with some young offenders. The focus of this programme is to encourage young people to turn their lives around. It is a nine to eighteen month therapeutic programme for young males (aged 14 to 16 years at entry) who have appeared before the courts and who live within the Hamilton/Waikato region. The three-phased programme aims to: reduce re-offending; hold young people accountable for their offending; and provide tailored, specialist support to young people and their whaanau/families so they can make positive choices rather then continue on current (offending) pathways. (excerpt)
. The rights of the young person in the New Zealand youth justice family group conference.: The youth justice family group conference (FGC) is a statutory decision making process whereby the young person, their family/whanau, state officials and the victim of the offence come together to decide on a response to offending by that young person. The FGC is an integral part of the youth justice system, involving thousands of young people and their families each year. There is a considerable amount of literature available on the youth justice FGC, most notably in regard to the purported restorative justice nature of the process. However, for a legal process which involves so many young people on a daily basis, there is little information available on the due process rights of young people in the FGC. This thesis seeks to remedy this gap in the research knowledge. Firstly, this thesis establishes the theoretical framework for the rights of the young person in the youth justice system. The historical context and theoretical justification for these rights is considered, and the benchmarks for rights coming from international and national human rights standards are identified. A key theoretical issue is the application of rights to the FGC. It is argued that although the FGC differs in format from the adversarial criminal process, it remains a state process involved in resolving a breach of the criminal law, and thus the young person's rights should be safeguarded. Secondly, this thesis evaluates legislation, policy and practice relating to the rights of the young person in the FGC. Three key areas of rights are considered: legal assistance, how the offence is proved, and outcomes of the FGC. Reference is made to practice examples derived from observation of the FGC in two centres in New Zealand. Finally, as the FGC is certain to remain an integral part of the youth justice system, recommendations are made as to how legislation and practice could be improved to better safeguard the rights of young people in this process. (author's abstract)
. Youth Justice in New Zealand: Restorative Justice in Practice?: The Children, YoungPersons, and TheirFamilies Act 1989 put in place newobjects, principles, and procedures for youth justice in New Zealand. Both the philosophy underpinning this system and the use of family group conferences exemplify a restorative justice approach that has now been adopted in many other countries. This article describes these changes and presents some of the results of recently published research that examines the extent to which young offenders have been diverted from courts and custody, held accountable for their actions, and had their wellbeing enhanced. It suggests that the New Zealand youth justice system has achieved many but not all of its goals, and that there are still aspects where improvement is possible. (author's abstract)
. Youth justice conferences versus Children's Court: A comparison of re-offending.: After adjusting for other factors in the intention-to-treat analyses, no significant differences were found between conference and court participants in the proportion re-offending, the seriousness of their re-offending, the time to the first proven re-offence or the number of proven re-offences. Non-significant results were obtained regardless of whether the definition of re-offending included or excluded justice procedures offences. In the as-treated analyses, the results were similar. (excerpt)
Alder, Christine and Wundersitz, Joy. Family Conferencing and Juvenile Justice: The Way Forward or Misplaced Optimism?: An anthology of 11 papers assesses the use and dimensions of family group conferencing (FGC) in Australia and New Zealand. FGCs involves a meeting between the offender and his/her extended family, the victim and his/her supporters, and other relevant parties to discuss the offense and to negotiate appropriate responses. The most innovative and potentially positive aspects of family group conferencing are the involvement of the victim and the young offender's family in decision making. The papers address whether punishment without stigmatization is possible, whether reoffending can be prevented, and if family conferencing represents the best alternative.
Alder, Christine and Wundersitz, Joy. New Directions in Juvenile Justice Reform in Australia: Reviews the adaptations of the New Zealand juvenile justice reforms to Australia, especially the use of family group conferences. After reviewing the history of juvenile justice reforms in Australia, the authors discuss the features of family group conferences, the differences between the New Zealand and Australian versions, and the implications for juvenile justice practice
Bates, Brian. A diverse approach to juvenile offending in the Northern Territory: Brian Bates, Commissioner of Police in the Northern Territory, presents a Juvenile Pre-Court Diversion Scheme being used in that territory as an alternative approach to juvenile offending. Specifically, it is an alternative to an adversarial system in response to juvenile offending. This alternative scheme provides a range of interventions to divert juveniles from the criminal justice system. The paper sketches the background to this approach, describes each of the diversionary interventions, and reports on results from the first nine months of the program’s operations.
Becroft, Andrew. 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.
Becroft, Andrew. Youth Justice in New Zealand: Future Challenges: The starting point is to emphasise that the fundamental structure and principles of the New Zealand youth justice system are sound (and have been for 15 years). The outcomes since the passage of the legislation suggest that the system is working. An increase in diversion and decrease in cases coming to the Youth Court, together with decreases in incarceration and institutionalisation, are achievements of which all those working in the New Zealand youth justice sector may justly be proud. (excerpt)
Bolitho, Jane. Creating space for young people, dialogue and decision making : youth justice conferencing in New South Wales Australia.: This study examines the process of Youth Justice Conferencing in New South Wales within the context of the theory and aims of the restorative justice movement. Analysis of relevant literature and theory suggests that restorative justice is a broad and encompassing movement that entails a decision making process where victims, communities and offenders come together in a joint response to an offence. Although this breadth has allowed and encouraged a proliferation of programs that respond to particular needs and particular demands of culture and social context, the consequence is that both understandings and practices of restorative justices are variable. When theoretical understandings are so varied there will necessarily be a lack of commonality in the way principles are articulated. If practice is not linked directly to principled theory it is inevitable that processes will be vulnerable at all levels to the interaction between context, situations and participant characteristics that may easily deflect the focus from the true purpose of restorative justice. This thesis attempts to clarify the restorative principles relevant to the NSW program with reference to Braithwaite and Pettit’s republican theory (1990) and their notion of dominion. In turn these principles are used to identify five practical elements to be used as a framework to guide youth conferences. Such a framework highlights potential areas for improvement in conference preparation and practice. A case study approach was used to collect data and involved the observation of eighty five Youth Justice Conferences in three New South Wales conferencing regions. As well, one hundred and fifty two currently practising Youth Justice Conferencing practitioners (Police, Conveners, Managers) in New South Wales completed a mail out questionnaire. Findings from the study suggest that conference processes are influenced by the presence or absence of five particular elements: the attendance of victims, the attendance of communities, the attendance of offender support, reparation to victims, communities and offenders and the experience of non-domination during the conference space. However, findings also suggest that ‘situational’ factors may mediate these key elements to enhance or compromise the overall process. This thesis suggests that many of the issues arising in NSW conferences result from the failure to articulate the links between restorative justice theory and practice. While in NSW such links may intentionally have been unarticulated in order to encourage a freedom within the process, in reality the lack of clarification has led to a freedom in discretion that sometimes diminishes the chance of success. Therefore it proposes the need for a more articulated translation of theory into principles that will in turn frame practice. In this way the thesis uses the normative theory proposed by Braithwaite and Pettit (1990) to provide an explanatory and ideal framework for best practice in NSW Youth Justice Conferencing. (author's abstract)
Boshier, Peter. How Family Group Conferencing Influences Decision-Making in New Zealand Courts.: PendingFamily Group Conferences (FGCs) were created by the Children, Young Persons, and Their Families Act 1989. This Act deals with State intervention into childcare and aims to protect children from abuse and neglect through its care and protection provisions. The Act also established the Youth Court, which deals with young offenders. FGCs are the backbone of both the care and protection and youth justice processes. (excerpt)
Brown, M. J. A. Juvenile Justice in New Zealand: This paper describes New Zealand's Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act of 1989. The terms used in the Youth Justice portion of the legislation are defined, the jurisdiction of the Youth Court and objectives of the legislation are discussed, and the use of family group conferences are explained. Finally, the perceived benefits of this form of diversion are listed.
Carroll, M. Implementation Issues: Considering the Conferencing Options for Victoria: The potential advantages and dangers of family group conferences are discussed in the context of the existing juvenile justice system in Victoria under the Children and Young Persons Act 1989. These approaches have led to fewer young people admitted by courts to supervised programs making the need for more diversion approaches questionable. Concerns about police-based family group conferences include police neutrality, police role as prosecutor and judge, and program costs. Concerns about the New Zealand model include professional involvement in decision making, low victim satisfaction, net-widening, and costs of program implementation.
Chan, Janet B.L.. Reshaping Juvenile Justice. The NSW Young Offenders Act 1997: Reshaping Juvenile Justice examines reforms in New South Wales under the Young Offenders Act 1997. The Act institutionalizes a fresh approach to juvenile justice – one that regulates police discretion at the gate-keeping level, emphasizes diversion as a principle, introduces restorative conferencing as an intermediate intervention, and relegates the use of courts to the last resort. (publisher’s abstract)
Cunneen, Chris and White, Rob. Australia: Control, Containment or Empowerment?: This chapter presents a critical analysis of recent juvenile justice reforms in Australia. The main argument is that while the Australian Government espouses the rhetoric of restorative justice practices, reforms instituted in recent years have further marginalized disadvantaged youth. The authors begin by reviewing recent legislative changes that have enhanced the power of police to control young people in public spaces. These changes have expanded the ability of police to conduct casual “name-checks,” searches for prohibited implements, and to take fingerprints and bodily samples of alleged young offenders. This “zero tolerance” policing have been coupled with other control measures designed to contain young people in public spaces, such as formal youth curfews and restrictive approaches to bail. These legislative changes have accompanied an increased emphasis on the prediction and management of risk for young people in Australia, which has resulted in the expanded use of diversionary sanctions. The problem with such an approach, however, is that in practice this risk management has focused mainly on disadvantaged youth who do not fit the typical middle-class mold. The authors discuss the overrepresentation of Aboriginal youth in the juvenile justice system before turning to an examination of the tensions created between the rhetoric of restorative justice practices and the “net-widening” effect that has occurred as a result of risk management practices that criminalize a greater array of activities. While on the one hand, the Australian Government has expanded the use of so-called restorative sanctioning practices, the focus on risk management has changed the nature of juvenile incarceration. Even as the rate of juvenile incarceration has decreased across the country, it has become increasingly easier to transfer young offenders to adult courts and to hold young offenders in detention facilities administered by the adult correctional system. In closing the authors note that in Australia, the term “juvenile offender” is a code word for “poor and marginalized.” (Abstract courtesy of the National Criminal Justice Reference Service, www.ncjrs.gov).

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Navigation Lecture Hall Introduction to Restorative Justice Restorative Justice around the World Africa Asia Europe Latin America Middle East North America and the Caribbean Pacific Indigenous Juvenile Justice Court Evaluation School Articles from RJ Online All Documents Educational Opportunities Restorative Justice Theory Making Amends Restorative Justice Course Syllabi Book Reviews Video Reviews Real People, Real Stories Practice Manuals Evaluation Research Evaluation Tools Role Plays Using Restorative Practices	Info Juvenile Justice A concern over the incarceration of juvenile offenders was a major impetus in the implementation of what came to be known as restorative justice in the Pacific. . A history of youth justice in New Zealand. The Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act 1989 revolutionised New Zealand youth justice practices, establishing an innovative set of principles and procedures to govern the response to young offenders, and to manage the role of the State in the lives of young people and their families. The founding objective of the legislation is ‘to promote the wellbeing of children, young persons, and their families and family groups’ (section 4). The Act thus seeks to empower families and communities, rather than professionals, in deciding the best measures to respond to offending behaviour in children and young people This report will explore the background to the youth justice provisions of the Act, both internationally and domestically, with the hope that an understanding of the system’s evolution will render a better insight into the principles behind this innovative piece of legislation. (excerpt) . How to turn a child offender into an adult criminal -- in 10 easy steps. In practice, the New Zealand system encapsulates restorative justice ideologies, by including the victim in the decision-making process and encouraging the mediation of concerns between the victim, the offender and their families to achieve reconciliation, restitution and rehabilitation. The New Zealand system, especially the family group conference, has been practised as a restorative justice system, though this was not necessary to conform to the provisions of the Act. Restorative justice is nowhere mentioned in the Act, yet a restorative justice approach is entirely consistent with its objects and principles. In fact, “restorative justice” thinking and practice had barely begun at the time the Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act 1989 was being discussed. Thus, the system follows restorative justice techniques although the black letter law did not explicitly envisage this outcome. (excerpt) . In courtroom 7 -- The children's Koori Court at work. Findings from an Evaluation. This article reports some of the findings of an evaluation of the Children’s Koori Court (CKC)—the first legislated effort in Australia to involve the Indigenous community in the sentencing of young Aboriginal offenders as a strategy for reducing their overrepresentation in the juvenile justice system. A prominent feature of this court of summary jurisdiction is that the presiding magistrate, while remaining the sentencing authority, is assisted by Aboriginal Elders. This article focuses on the evaluation findings that were derived from observations of the CKC in action. They indicate that the operational objective of cultural responsiveness was realized. They also point to realization of the community-building goal—fostering Indigenous ownership of the administration of the law. Little slippage was found between the CKC’s design and operation, although some areas of improvement were identified. Nevertheless, the scope for the CKC by itself to significantly reduce overrepresentation is limited. (Author's abstract) . Police diversion of young offenders and Indigenous over-representation. This study aimed to contribute to the emerging literature examining disparity in the use of police diversion and whether the impact of police diversion on re-contact varies based on Indigenous status. The study addressed three research questions: • What proportion of Indigenous and non-Indigenous young people had contact with the juvenile justice system and what was the extent of this contact? • What processes were used to respond to offending by Indigenous and non- Indigenous young people and was there disparity based on Indigenous status? • What impact did police diversion have on re-contact with the juvenile justice system for Indigenous and non-Indigenous young people? (excerpt) . Restorative Justice Principles in Youth Settings – final report. This report contains eight chapters which detail the implementation of restorative justice principles in the ACT educational and justice settings. The report makes a number of recommendations which the Committee considers will help sustain restorative approaches into the future. (excerpt) . Te Hurihanga Pilot: Evaluation report. Te Hurihanga (The Turning Point) is a Ministry of Justice response to the problem of youth offending. It is a three-year pilot that reflects concerns about trends in youth offending and lack of suitable options open to the judiciary when dealing with some young offenders. The focus of this programme is to encourage young people to turn their lives around. It is a nine to eighteen month therapeutic programme for young males (aged 14 to 16 years at entry) who have appeared before the courts and who live within the Hamilton/Waikato region. The three-phased programme aims to: reduce re-offending; hold young people accountable for their offending; and provide tailored, specialist support to young people and their whaanau/families so they can make positive choices rather then continue on current (offending) pathways. (excerpt) . The rights of the young person in the New Zealand youth justice family group conference. The youth justice family group conference (FGC) is a statutory decision making process whereby the young person, their family/whanau, state officials and the victim of the offence come together to decide on a response to offending by that young person. The FGC is an integral part of the youth justice system, involving thousands of young people and their families each year. There is a considerable amount of literature available on the youth justice FGC, most notably in regard to the purported restorative justice nature of the process. However, for a legal process which involves so many young people on a daily basis, there is little information available on the due process rights of young people in the FGC. This thesis seeks to remedy this gap in the research knowledge. Firstly, this thesis establishes the theoretical framework for the rights of the young person in the youth justice system. The historical context and theoretical justification for these rights is considered, and the benchmarks for rights coming from international and national human rights standards are identified. A key theoretical issue is the application of rights to the FGC. It is argued that although the FGC differs in format from the adversarial criminal process, it remains a state process involved in resolving a breach of the criminal law, and thus the young person's rights should be safeguarded. Secondly, this thesis evaluates legislation, policy and practice relating to the rights of the young person in the FGC. Three key areas of rights are considered: legal assistance, how the offence is proved, and outcomes of the FGC. Reference is made to practice examples derived from observation of the FGC in two centres in New Zealand. Finally, as the FGC is certain to remain an integral part of the youth justice system, recommendations are made as to how legislation and practice could be improved to better safeguard the rights of young people in this process. (author's abstract) . Youth Justice in New Zealand: Restorative Justice in Practice? The Children, YoungPersons, and TheirFamilies Act 1989 put in place newobjects, principles, and procedures for youth justice in New Zealand. Both the philosophy underpinning this system and the use of family group conferences exemplify a restorative justice approach that has now been adopted in many other countries. This article describes these changes and presents some of the results of recently published research that examines the extent to which young offenders have been diverted from courts and custody, held accountable for their actions, and had their wellbeing enhanced. It suggests that the New Zealand youth justice system has achieved many but not all of its goals, and that there are still aspects where improvement is possible. (author's abstract) . Youth justice conferences versus Children's Court: A comparison of re-offending. After adjusting for other factors in the intention-to-treat analyses, no significant differences were found between conference and court participants in the proportion re-offending, the seriousness of their re-offending, the time to the first proven re-offence or the number of proven re-offences. Non-significant results were obtained regardless of whether the definition of re-offending included or excluded justice procedures offences. In the as-treated analyses, the results were similar. (excerpt) Alder, Christine and Wundersitz, Joy. Family Conferencing and Juvenile Justice: The Way Forward or Misplaced Optimism? An anthology of 11 papers assesses the use and dimensions of family group conferencing (FGC) in Australia and New Zealand. FGCs involves a meeting between the offender and his/her extended family, the victim and his/her supporters, and other relevant parties to discuss the offense and to negotiate appropriate responses. The most innovative and potentially positive aspects of family group conferencing are the involvement of the victim and the young offender's family in decision making. The papers address whether punishment without stigmatization is possible, whether reoffending can be prevented, and if family conferencing represents the best alternative. Alder, Christine and Wundersitz, Joy. New Directions in Juvenile Justice Reform in Australia Reviews the adaptations of the New Zealand juvenile justice reforms to Australia, especially the use of family group conferences. After reviewing the history of juvenile justice reforms in Australia, the authors discuss the features of family group conferences, the differences between the New Zealand and Australian versions, and the implications for juvenile justice practice Bates, Brian. A diverse approach to juvenile offending in the Northern Territory Brian Bates, Commissioner of Police in the Northern Territory, presents a Juvenile Pre-Court Diversion Scheme being used in that territory as an alternative approach to juvenile offending. Specifically, it is an alternative to an adversarial system in response to juvenile offending. This alternative scheme provides a range of interventions to divert juveniles from the criminal justice system. The paper sketches the background to this approach, describes each of the diversionary interventions, and reports on results from the first nine months of the program’s operations. Becroft, Andrew. 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. Becroft, Andrew. Youth Justice in New Zealand: Future Challenges The starting point is to emphasise that the fundamental structure and principles of the New Zealand youth justice system are sound (and have been for 15 years). The outcomes since the passage of the legislation suggest that the system is working. An increase in diversion and decrease in cases coming to the Youth Court, together with decreases in incarceration and institutionalisation, are achievements of which all those working in the New Zealand youth justice sector may justly be proud. (excerpt) Bolitho, Jane. Creating space for young people, dialogue and decision making : youth justice conferencing in New South Wales Australia. This study examines the process of Youth Justice Conferencing in New South Wales within the context of the theory and aims of the restorative justice movement. Analysis of relevant literature and theory suggests that restorative justice is a broad and encompassing movement that entails a decision making process where victims, communities and offenders come together in a joint response to an offence. Although this breadth has allowed and encouraged a proliferation of programs that respond to particular needs and particular demands of culture and social context, the consequence is that both understandings and practices of restorative justices are variable. When theoretical understandings are so varied there will necessarily be a lack of commonality in the way principles are articulated. If practice is not linked directly to principled theory it is inevitable that processes will be vulnerable at all levels to the interaction between context, situations and participant characteristics that may easily deflect the focus from the true purpose of restorative justice. This thesis attempts to clarify the restorative principles relevant to the NSW program with reference to Braithwaite and Pettit’s republican theory (1990) and their notion of dominion. In turn these principles are used to identify five practical elements to be used as a framework to guide youth conferences. Such a framework highlights potential areas for improvement in conference preparation and practice. A case study approach was used to collect data and involved the observation of eighty five Youth Justice Conferences in three New South Wales conferencing regions. As well, one hundred and fifty two currently practising Youth Justice Conferencing practitioners (Police, Conveners, Managers) in New South Wales completed a mail out questionnaire. Findings from the study suggest that conference processes are influenced by the presence or absence of five particular elements: the attendance of victims, the attendance of communities, the attendance of offender support, reparation to victims, communities and offenders and the experience of non-domination during the conference space. However, findings also suggest that ‘situational’ factors may mediate these key elements to enhance or compromise the overall process. This thesis suggests that many of the issues arising in NSW conferences result from the failure to articulate the links between restorative justice theory and practice. While in NSW such links may intentionally have been unarticulated in order to encourage a freedom within the process, in reality the lack of clarification has led to a freedom in discretion that sometimes diminishes the chance of success. Therefore it proposes the need for a more articulated translation of theory into principles that will in turn frame practice. In this way the thesis uses the normative theory proposed by Braithwaite and Pettit (1990) to provide an explanatory and ideal framework for best practice in NSW Youth Justice Conferencing. (author's abstract) Boshier, Peter. How Family Group Conferencing Influences Decision-Making in New Zealand Courts. PendingFamily Group Conferences (FGCs) were created by the Children, Young Persons, and Their Families Act 1989. This Act deals with State intervention into childcare and aims to protect children from abuse and neglect through its care and protection provisions. The Act also established the Youth Court, which deals with young offenders. FGCs are the backbone of both the care and protection and youth justice processes. (excerpt) Brown, M. J. A. Juvenile Justice in New Zealand This paper describes New Zealand's Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act of 1989. The terms used in the Youth Justice portion of the legislation are defined, the jurisdiction of the Youth Court and objectives of the legislation are discussed, and the use of family group conferences are explained. Finally, the perceived benefits of this form of diversion are listed. Carroll, M. Implementation Issues: Considering the Conferencing Options for Victoria The potential advantages and dangers of family group conferences are discussed in the context of the existing juvenile justice system in Victoria under the Children and Young Persons Act 1989. These approaches have led to fewer young people admitted by courts to supervised programs making the need for more diversion approaches questionable. Concerns about police-based family group conferences include police neutrality, police role as prosecutor and judge, and program costs. Concerns about the New Zealand model include professional involvement in decision making, low victim satisfaction, net-widening, and costs of program implementation. Chan, Janet B.L.. Reshaping Juvenile Justice. The NSW Young Offenders Act 1997 Reshaping Juvenile Justice examines reforms in New South Wales under the Young Offenders Act 1997. The Act institutionalizes a fresh approach to juvenile justice – one that regulates police discretion at the gate-keeping level, emphasizes diversion as a principle, introduces restorative conferencing as an intermediate intervention, and relegates the use of courts to the last resort. (publisher’s abstract) Cunneen, Chris and White, Rob. Australia: Control, Containment or Empowerment? This chapter presents a critical analysis of recent juvenile justice reforms in Australia. The main argument is that while the Australian Government espouses the rhetoric of restorative justice practices, reforms instituted in recent years have further marginalized disadvantaged youth. The authors begin by reviewing recent legislative changes that have enhanced the power of police to control young people in public spaces. These changes have expanded the ability of police to conduct casual “name-checks,” searches for prohibited implements, and to take fingerprints and bodily samples of alleged young offenders. This “zero tolerance” policing have been coupled with other control measures designed to contain young people in public spaces, such as formal youth curfews and restrictive approaches to bail. These legislative changes have accompanied an increased emphasis on the prediction and management of risk for young people in Australia, which has resulted in the expanded use of diversionary sanctions. The problem with such an approach, however, is that in practice this risk management has focused mainly on disadvantaged youth who do not fit the typical middle-class mold. The authors discuss the overrepresentation of Aboriginal youth in the juvenile justice system before turning to an examination of the tensions created between the rhetoric of restorative justice practices and the “net-widening” effect that has occurred as a result of risk management practices that criminalize a greater array of activities. While on the one hand, the Australian Government has expanded the use of so-called restorative sanctioning practices, the focus on risk management has changed the nature of juvenile incarceration. Even as the rate of juvenile incarceration has decreased across the country, it has become increasingly easier to transfer young offenders to adult courts and to hold young offenders in detention facilities administered by the adult correctional system. In closing the authors note that in Australia, the term “juvenile offender” is a code word for “poor and marginalized.” (Abstract courtesy of the National Criminal Justice Reference Service, www.ncjrs.gov). Next 20 items » [1] 2 3 4 Document Actions Send this Print this	Africa Asia Europe Latin America Middle East North America and Caribbean Pacific Search 10530 publications on restorative justice Recent RJOB Comments conference May 07, 2012 conference May 07, 2012 Agreement to participate May 04, 2012 More… Slide Show: What is Restorative Justice Click to view a slideshow discussing the definition of restorative justice. May 25, 2012 Project Myriam celebrates 10 years May 24, 2012 InnerChange Freedom Initiative Celebrating 15 years Apr 25, 2012 Sycamore Tree Programme from Prison Fellowship England and Wales Apr 13, 2012 PF Swaziland volunteer brings victims and offenders together Apr 13, 2012 PF Nicaragua providing legal services for prisoners