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Restorative Justice in New Zealand: Family Group Conferences as a Case Study

NCJ Number
181236
Journal
Western Criminology Review Volume: 1 Issue: 1 Dated: 1998 Pages: 1-17
Author(s)
Allison Morris; Gabrielle Maxwell
Date Published
1999
Length
17 pages
Annotation
Research conducted in 1990-91 and 1996 focused on the role of family group conferences in New Zealand, with emphasis on the extent to which juvenile offenders, their families, and victims together to decide how best to deal with the young person's offending.
Abstract
Family group conferences were introduced in New Zealand in 1989. Traditional Maori concepts of conflict resolution strongly influenced the New Zealand model. The debates introducing conferences did not make specific reference to restorative justice. Nevertheless, their underlying philosophy incorporates crucial features of restorative justice. The main goal of a conference is to formulate a plan about how best to deal with the offending. Decisions reached by agreement of all attending and accepted, if court-referred, by the juvenile judge are binding on all those involved. Different models of conferencing operate in different jurisdiction. Information collected from victims, offenders, and families revealed that victims were willing and able to participate in restorative justice processes, a significant proportion of victims felt positively about the process and were satisfied with the outcomes, and offenders were held accountable, In addition, reconviction rates were no worse and may be better than for court-based samples. Finally, factors in restorative justice processes may be linked to a lower probability of reconviction. These and other findings support restorative justice for adult offenders in New Zealand and suggest that other countries wanting to move toward more restorative approaches should consider family group conferences as a useful strategy. Tables, notes, and 16 references