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Community Accountability Conferences: A Collaborative Project Between Police and Schools

NCJ Number
169456
Journal
Youth Studies Australia Volume: 16 Issue: 3 Dated: (September 1997) Pages: 17-21
Author(s)
A Morey; H Bruce
Date Published
1997
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This paper outlines the rationale for an Australian pilot project designed to deal with school crime in the school setting, describes the conference process, and discusses the project outcomes.
Abstract
Between mid-1995 and the end of the 1996 school year, staff at a suburban high school in Adelaide (Australia) conducted a collaborative pilot project with local police to deal with minor offending behavior that occurred on school grounds. The pilot program developed a process called the Community Accountability Conference, which supplemented the school's behavior management process. Its aim was to provide an effective way to deal with breaches of criminal law that occurred at school when a decision had been made by the persons involved not to deal with the offense through the justice system. Over the evaluation period, each conference was facilitated by the school counselor, with the information on the incident outlined by the school principal or a representative. The perpetrator was then asked to describe his/her involvement; the victim described how he/she was affected; and the parents or guardians were asked to express their feelings about the incident. The police youth officer gave a police perspective on the type of offense and how it might have been dealt with within the juvenile justice system. Preliminary outcomes were sought in the context of what transpired in the conference. Over the pilot period, the project brought together 24 perpetrators and 22 victims in 24 Community Accountability Conferences. An evaluation questionnaire was administered to all conference participants for the purpose of rating the conference. There was an overwhelmingly positive response by participating victims and perpetrators. Of the 24 perpetrators, only one reappeared with a similar offense within the school's behavior management process. 1 table and 2 references