Abstract
In this article, I examine and discuss the implications of restorative processes in juvenile offence cases in Northern Ireland, Norway, and Orlando, Florida. The investigation focuses on the Northern Irish Youth Conference model, the Norwegian Youth Sanction and Youth Follow-up models, and the Neighborhood Restorative Justice and Teen Court diversion programs of Orlando, Florida. I use interviews with professionals and observations of restorative processes and meetings related to these as the empirical basis for the investigation. In my discussion of the three models, I focus on issues of neutrality/impartiality, voluntarism, punishment, roles of offended parties and communities, and equality before the law based on the theories of Christie, Zehr, Vindeløv and Braithwaite. While the models generally offer possibilities of addressing the individual circumstances of the young offender in a way that the traditional systems they locally compete with do not, the variation in content is so large that I consider if perhaps a community of practices labelled restorative justice exists only at the abstract and not at the practical level.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Nordic Mediation Research |
Editors | Lin Adrian, Kaijus Ervasti, Anna Nylund |
Publisher | Springer Open |
Publication date | 3 Apr 2018 |
Publication status | Published - 3 Apr 2018 |