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.

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

Allard, Troy and Little, Simon and Birks, Dan and Ogilvie, James and Chrzanowski, April and Stewart, Anna. 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)

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Juvenile justice in Australia 2009-2010.

In Australia, the state and territory governments are responsible for dealing with young people who are involved in crime. One major aspect of the juvenile justice system is the supervision of children and young people who have committed or are alleged to have committed an offence. This report presents information on the young people under juvenile justice supervision, both in detention and under community-based supervision, and the characteristics of their supervision. (excerpt)

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. 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)

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)

Borowski, Allan. 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)

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)

Bouhours, Brigitte and Daly, Kathleen. Youth Sex Offenders in Court: An Analysis of Judicial Sentencing Remarks

This paper builds on an archival study of 385 sexual offence cases, which were disposed in court and by conference and formal caution, in South Australia from 1995 to 2001. Drawing on the transcripts of 55 cases sentenced by judges (i.e., the most legally serious offences), we analyse sentencing discourses and outcomes using both the explicit and latent content of the sentencing remarks. Specifically, we explore the judges’ orientations and aims when sentencing adolescent sex offenders, how judges reconcile the seriousness of offending and the youthfulness of offenders, and how they balance the competing interests of victims and offenders. (author's abstract)

Bouhours, Brigitte. Adolescent Sex Offending: An Analysis of Judicial Sentencing Remarks

This thesis builds on an archival study of 385 sexual offence cases, which were disposed of in court and by conference and formal caution, in South Australia from 1995 to 2001. Using the sentencing remarks in all those cases sentenced by judges, this study examines the specific processes and discourses that occur during the sentencing of youthful sex offenders. I specifically explore three questions. The first asks how cases of youthful sexual offending and the offenders are characterised? Second, what are the judges’ orientations and aims at sentencing? And third, what is the character of the judges’ moral and personal communication with the young persons? (author's abstract)

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).

Cunningham, Teresa. Pre-court diversion in the Northern Territory: impact on juvenile reoffending.

A juvenile pre-court diversion scheme was introduced in the Northern Territory in 2000. Administered by police, it uses warnings and conferences to divert selected juveniles from the court process. This paper reports on an analysis of Northern Territory police records on 3,597 apprehended juveniles over a 5 year period. Findings showed that the great majority of juveniles (76%) did not reoffend within the first year after their initial diversion or court appearance. However, there were significant differences between juveniles who attended court and those who were diverted, both in terms of risk of reoffending and time to reoffending. Those who were diverted reoffended less than those who attended court and those who went to court reoffended more quickly. Property offenders who attended court were 30 percent more at risk of reoffending than violent offenders. Further work is required to see if the different effects for court versus diversion remain if prior offending history is taken into account. The significant differences in offending related to age, gender, Indigenous status and location confirm the need for specific responses to particular groups of juveniles. (author's abstract)

Daly, Kathleen . Girls, Peer Violence, and Restorative Justice.

Drawing on the South Australia Juvenile Justice (SAJJ) project dataset, this article analyses youth peer violence ('punch-ups') with a focus on girl-on-girl assaults. My aim is to address and explain significant gaps in the empirical knowledge of gender and restorative justice, and in the aspirations and reality of restorative justice itself. Four points are made. First, of all the offence categories, the male and female punch-ups showed the least degree of offender remorse, positive movement between offender and victim, and victim satisfaction; and they showed the greatest degree of victim revictimisation and more negative outcomes of the conference process. This occurs because offenders may 'admit' to offending, but deny that their actions are wrong. Second, simple gender comparisons of offender and victim orientations in a restorative process are likely to produce misleading resuls, unless they are keyed to particular offense categories. Third, for girls' punch-ups, the status of 'victim' and 'offender' is contested with both protagonists seeing themselves as 'victims' (or as 'nonoffenders'). Fourth, although some offending girls say their violence is justified, their female victims are hurt and traumatised, some with significant long-term effects. Implications are drawn or the feminist analyses of girls' violence and for ethical practices of restorative justice. (abstract)

Fitzgerald, Jacqueline and Vignaendra, Sumitra. Reoffending Among Young People Cautioned by Police or Who Participated in Youth Justice Conference.

This study investigated the rate of reoffending among young people who were cautioned by New South Wales (NSW) Police or who participated in a youth justice conference for the first time in 1999. Results of this study showed that continued contact with the criminal justice system also occurred among those participating in diversionary alternatives to court; however, this contact seemed less common. This is particularly true for offenders who are older at their first caution or conference, female offenders, and non-Indigenous offenders. Although the study showed a clear difference in the rate of appearance in court for those given a caution versus a conference, this difference should not be taken as an indication of the relative effectiveness of cautions versus conferences in reducing juvenile reoffending. Since 1998, a significant proportion of young offenders in New South Wales (NSW) have been dealt with by warning caution or youth justice conference under the Young Offenders Act of 1997 rather than proceeding through the traditional court system. Utilizing two cohorts of young people, one of which was cautioned by NSW Police in 1999 and the other completing a youth justice conference, this study describes the likelihood and frequency of reoffending, the time it takes to reoffend, and the likelihood of receiving a penalty of imprisonment all within 5 years of the caution or conference. (Abstract courtesy of the National Criminal Justice Reference Service, www.ncjrs.org.