Co-option, Coercion and Compromise: Challenges of Restorative Justice in Victoria, Australia

Victim Participation ◽

Restorative justice (RJ) encompasses a widely diverging set of practices whereby those most affected by crime are encouraged to meet, to discuss the effects of harms caused by one party to another, and to agree upon the best possible redress of harms when appropriate. In its inception in the late 1970s, RJ was conceptualized and developed as an alternative to formal criminal justice practices. Since this time, however, RJ has largely moved from being an alternative to criminal justice practices to an ‘alternative’ practice within criminal justice systems. This institutionalization has resulted in the significant growth of RJ practices, but has also resulted in RJ being used for criminal justice system goals that are at odds with the needs of victims or offenders. This paper examines the use of the Youth Justice Group Conferencing Program in Victoria, Australia. Drawing from interviews with conference conveners, our research highlights problems related to administrative ‘constraints’ and ‘co-options’ in conferencing in terms of referrals, preparation of conference participants, and victim participation. Following presentation of findings, we concludewith a discussion of implications for the use of RJ within a highly institutionalized setting.

The European Integrated Criminal Justice System and its Constitutional Framework

Maastricht Journal of European and Comparative Law ◽

10.1177/1023263x0501200202 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 12 (2) ◽

pp. 125-147 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Joachim Vogel

Keyword(s):

Criminal Justice ◽

Criminal Justice System ◽

European Integration ◽

Criminal Law ◽

Justice System ◽

Legal Systems ◽

Member States ◽

Financial Interests ◽

This article discusses the concept of the integrated European criminal justice system and its constitutional framework (as it stands now and as laid down in the Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe signed in Rome on 29 October 2004). It argues that European integration does not stop short of criminal justice. Integration does not mean that Member States and their legal systems, including their criminal justice systems, are being abolished or centralised or unified. Rather, they are being integrated through co-operation, co-ordination and harmonisation; centralisation, respectively unification, is a means of integration only in specific sectors such as the protection of the European Communities' financial interests. The article further argues that the integrated European criminal justice system is in need of a constitutional framework. The present framework suffers from major deficiencies. However, the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe will introduce a far better, all in all satisfactory, ‘criminal law constitution’.

POSSIBLE SENSITIVE VICTIMS - WITNESSES

Knowledge International Journal ◽

10.35120/kij30061517a ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 30 (6) ◽

pp. 1517-1524

Author(s):

Azra Adžajlić-Dedović ◽

Haris Halilović ◽

Samir Rizvo

Keyword(s):

Criminal Justice ◽

Criminal Justice System ◽

Justice System ◽

Care And Support ◽

Adequate Care ◽

Victims and witnesses may be reluctant to give information and evidence because of perceived or actual intimidation or threats against themselves or members of their family. This concern may be exacerbated where people who come into contact with the criminal justice system are particularly vulnerable. For instance, by virtue of their age and developing levels of maturity, children require that special measures be taken to ensure that they are appropriately assisted and protected by criminal justice processes.Victims who receive appropriate and adequate care and support are more likely to cooperate with the criminal justice system in bringing perpetrators of crime to justice. However, inadequacies of criminal justice systems may mean that victims are not able to access the services they need and may even be re-victimized by the criminal justice system itself.

Using Varieties of Simulation Modeling for Criminal Justice System Analysis

Artificial Crime Analysis Systems ◽

10.4018/978-1-59904-591-7.ch019 ◽

2011 ◽

pp. 372-411 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Azahed Alimadad ◽

Peter Borwein ◽

Patricia Brantingham ◽

Paul Brantingham ◽

Vahid Dabbaghian-Abdoly ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Criminal Justice ◽

Criminal Justice System ◽

Process Modeling ◽

Justice System ◽

System Analysis ◽

Discrete Event ◽

Event Simulation ◽

Justice Systems ◽

Policy Proposals

Criminal justice systems are complex. They are composed of several major subsystems, including the police, courts, and corrections, which are in turn composed of many minor subsystems. Predicting the response of a criminal justice system to change is often difficult. Mathematical modeling and computer simulation can serve as powerful tools for understanding and anticipating the behavior of a criminal justice system when something does change. The focus of this chapter is on three different approaches to modeling and simulating criminal justice systems: process modeling, discrete event simulation, and system dynamics. Recent advances in these modeling techniques combined with recent large increases in computing power make it an ideal time to explore their application to criminal justice systems. This chapter reviews these three approaches to modeling and simulation and presents examples of their application to the British Columbia criminal justice system in order to highlight their usefulness in exploring different types of “what-if” scenarios and policy proposals.

How the Criminal Justice System Educates Citizens

The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science ◽

10.1177/0002716213502929 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 651 (1) ◽

pp. 159-177 ◽

Cited By ~ 49

Author(s):

Benjamin Justice ◽

Tracey L. Meares

Keyword(s):

Public Schools ◽

Public School ◽

Criminal Justice ◽

Criminal Justice System ◽

Civic Education ◽

Justice System ◽

School Systems ◽

Public School Systems ◽

There are at least two central pathways through which the modern democratic state interacts with citizens: public school systems and criminal justice systems. Rarely are criminal justice systems thought to serve the educational function that public school systems are specifically designed to provide. Yet for an increasing number of Americans, the criminal justice system plays a powerful and pervasive role in providing a civic education, in anticitizenry, that is the reverse of the education that public schools are supposed to offer. We deploy curriculum theory to analyze three primary processes of the criminal justice system—jury service, incarceration, and policing—and demonstrate the operation of two parallel curricula within them: a symbolic, overt curriculum rooted in positive civic conceptions of fairness and democracy; and a hidden curriculum, rooted in empty or negative conceptions of certain citizens and their relationship to the state.

Net-Widening and the Diversion of Young People From Court: A Longitudinal Analysis With Implications for Restorative Justice

Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology ◽

10.1375/acri.43.1.112 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 43 (1) ◽

pp. 112-129 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Jeremy Prichard

Keyword(s):

Criminal Justice ◽

Young People ◽

Criminal Justice System ◽

Restorative Justice ◽

Justice System ◽

Future Research ◽

Youth Justice ◽

System A ◽

Police Records ◽

Net Widening

Internationally, many youth justice systems aim to divert young people from court through informal mechanisms, such as police cautions and restorative conferences. Among other things, diversion avoids the potentially criminogenic effects of formal contact with the criminal justice system. However, in some instances, the sum of court appearances and diversionary procedures indicates an overall increase in the numbers of young people having contact (formal or informal) with the criminal justice system — a phenomenon known as net-widening. This article summarises previous debates about the risks of net-widening. It then presents results from analysis of over 50,000 police records pertaining to young people's contact with the Tasmanian criminal justice system between 1991 and 2002. Across that decade, court appearances markedly reduced, while a corresponding increase in diversions was recorded. There was no evidence of net-widening. However, there was a significant increase in detention orders. Implications for policy and future research are considered.

A Just System? How Punitive Youth Justice Systems Increase the Risk of Crime

Children Australia ◽

10.1017/cha.2017.39 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 42 (4) ◽

pp. 233-239 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Julie Edwards

Keyword(s):

Criminal Justice ◽

Young People ◽

Criminal Justice System ◽

Justice System ◽

Young Person ◽

Youth Justice ◽

Children And Young People ◽

Australian Institute ◽

Justice Systems ◽

Amp Clay

For children and young people who offend, contact with the justice system can lead to life-long offending, with evidence showing that the younger a child enters the justice system the more likely he/she is to have sustained contact and go on to reoffend (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), 2017). Local and international youth justice approaches that aim to rehabilitate or resocialise the child or young person often have more success in preventing reoffending (Elwick, Davis, Crehan, & Clay, 2013). So, what is it that makes an effective youth justice system, and how can we ensure that children and young people are diverted from the criminal justice system effectively and that those who offend do not continue into a life of crime?

Improving Interagency Collaboration, Innovation and Learning in Criminal Justice Systems ◽

People in Contact with Criminal Justice Systems Participating in Service Redesign: Vulnerable Citizens or Democratic Partners?

10.1007/978-3-030-70661-6_12 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 297-321

Author(s):

Jonathan Parker ◽

Vanessa Heaslip ◽

Sara Ashencaen Crabtree ◽

Berit Johnsen ◽

Sarah Hean

Keyword(s):

Criminal Justice ◽

Criminal Justice System ◽

Justice System ◽

Critical Ethnography ◽

Service Development ◽

Transformative Development ◽

Conceptual Consideration ◽

Service Redesign ◽

AbstractThis chapter presents a conceptual consideration of the centrality of ‘voice’ in the Criminal Justice System (CJS), particularly in respect of service development. The hidden perspectives of those who are ‘subject to’, working with or working in the CJS represent important aspects to consider when seeking to change, develop or evaluate services. After emphasising the turn to including the voices of those often excluded from participation we explore aspects of the contested concept of ‘vulnerability’ as a label often applied to those working with CJS. We widen this to consider the vulnerabilities by association that professional take on as popular discourses permeate perceptions of CJS cultures. Subsequently, we examine some of the ways in which the inclusion of hidden and potentially vulnerable voices of those citizens involved with CJS can assist the transformative development of services by irritating the normative perspectives. We advocate an approach based around critical ethnography as a means of sitting with and walking besides people intimately involved in CJS.

Restorative justice within the criminal justice system

Temida ◽

10.2298/tem1003057v ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 13 (3) ◽

pp. 57-68

Author(s):

Danica Vasiljevic-Prodanovic

Keyword(s):

Criminal Justice ◽

Juvenile Justice ◽

Criminal Justice System ◽

Restorative Justice ◽

Justice System ◽

Positioning of restorative justice within the criminal justice system is one of the current questions preoccupying theorists and practitioners in the field. During decades restorative justice processes have been predominantly used within juvenile justice systems for dealing with minor offences committed by juveniles. Number of jurisdictions in Europe, USA, Canada, Australia have criminal codifications containing provisions that enable use of restorative justice processes in aim of diversion. Recent initiatives create possibility of applying restorative procedure in cases of serious crimes committed by adult offenders. This article reviews theoretical discussions and practical issues relating the scope and tasks of restorative justice within criminal justice, which may contribute to the development and use of restorative processes in our criminal justice system.

Giving Victims a Voice: On the Problems of Introducing Victim Impact Statements in German Criminal Procedure

German Law Journal ◽

10.1017/s2071832200002546 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 14 (9) ◽

pp. 1889-1908 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Kerstin Braun

Keyword(s):

Criminal Justice ◽

Criminal Justice System ◽

Justice System ◽

Common Law ◽

Civil Law ◽

Criminal Procedure ◽

Victim Impact Statements ◽

Justice Systems ◽

Key Participants

Historically, victims of crimes were key participants in the prosecution of crimes around the globe. Over the centuries, however, as public police and prosecution service took over the prosecution of criminal acts, the importance of victims in criminal justice systems decreased in common law and civil law countries alike. The victim was sidelined and the victim's role was reduced to that of a witness for the prosecution. As one of the first scholars to comment on the absence of victims from the criminal justice system, William Frank McDonald referred to the victim as “the forgotten man” in criminal procedure.

The neglected needs of care leavers in the criminal justice system: Practitioners’ perspectives and the persistence of problem (corporate) parenting

Criminology & Criminal Justice ◽

10.1177/1748895816659324 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 17 (2) ◽

pp. 175-191 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Claire Fitzpatrick ◽

Patrick Williams

Keyword(s):

Criminal Justice ◽

Criminal Justice System ◽

Justice System ◽

Policy And Practice ◽

Institutional Barriers ◽

Care Leavers ◽

Justice Systems ◽

Corporate Parenting

The link between experiences of care and criminal justice systems is well documented, yet curiously neglected in policy and practice. While the over-representation of care leavers in the justice system is often taken as given, there has been negligible change in policy and practice that appropriately responds to the needs of these individuals. Drawing on interviews with practitioners, this article highlights a series of organizational and institutional barriers to implementing a unique intervention. More broadly, such barriers contribute to the persistence of care(less) practice, facilitating the neglect of care leavers’ needs to a system dominated by risk. It is argued that the continued inertia within this area can only be construed as practice negligence and an affront to justice.