Restorative Essay Jess Gjerkes

Restorative and diversion programs have been used in Australia since the late 19th century around the same time that the children's court was first established. These programs are designed and put in place to help heal, give closure and guide a young person back onto the right track. Diversion and restorative programs work in parallel with youth work, which will be discussed within this essay through looking at what restorative justice and restorative programs entail, diversion programs, the strengths of diversion and restorative programs, and the links between diversion, restorative justice and youth work. (Ted Watchel 2012)

Restorative justice itself is a social science and primarily focuses on reducing crime, improving human behaviours, restoring relationships and repairing harm, restorative justice looks at how crime doesn't only affect the victim but the offender and the community as well, restorative justice focuses on the offender taking responsibility for their actions and wrongdoings and trying to make amends with the victim and their community. This is done through restorative and diversion programs which focus on and are used for conflict resolution between all parties and to try to repair the harm that has been caused. (Lecture slides week two, 2015)

An example of restorative justice would be if a young person became angry and threw a rock which broke a shop window. The young person would first have to admit to breaking the window before any restorative practice could take place, as feeling remorseful and owning up to the crime is the key to successful restorative practice, if the young person is not remorseful restoring justice would not be used as the young person does not regret or feel sorry for their actions or the crime committed.

Once the young person has owned up to the crime a way to repair the harm done would be established, Both parties would sit down and talk about the crime and what could be done to repair the damage, for example the shop owner may say that the window cost a bit of money to replace and in order to pay for the damages the young person could help out once a week for a month to help cover the cost of fixing the window. This gives the young person the chance to take responsibility for their actions, repair the damage done and to make amends for the crime they have committed.

Restorative practice is a tool which is used every day by not only youth workers but by justice officials, amongst peers, between friends and families and in a range of different circumstances. Restorative processes can be further broken down into formal and informal processes. Formal processes take place within the justice system in the form of restorative conferences, which follow a written script and are a very formal, victim sensitive, and straightforward problem solving. The conference gives a mean for the victim and others to confront the offender, get answers and have a say in how the harm caused can be repaired. (Ted Watchel 2012)

On the other hand of restorative processes is the informal aspect which encompasses circles. Circles are a versatile restorative practice which is more commonly used for smaller incidents and is a more informal way of problem solving and repairing harm. Circles can also be used for creating positive relationships and does not always require an incident to have taken place. Circles rely more on giving everyone a chance to express their feelings on a particular manner in a relaxed atmosphere, this informal process can commonly be seen in schools when a teacher puts students into groups for a project or possibly if a bullying incident occurs,the teacher sits the students involved down, gets them to talk about what happened and comes to an agreed way for the incident and harm caused to be repaired. (Ted Watchel 2012)

Youth workers utilise restorative practices within their work with young people to help guide them and give them the best possible outcomes, as restorative justice was designed with 'the best interest of the child' in mind and one of the key youth work principles is putting the young person and their needs first. (YACVIC, 2007)

Restorative justice also comprises of diversion programs which are used to divert a young person away from a damaging behaviour usually committing a crime and is a practice mainly used with first time offenders. That being said it is not unusual for a diversion program to be put in place before a crime has been committed if there are warning signs present. Whilst it is common practice that a diversion program would be implemented for crimes it is also common for them to be implemented in other cases such as drug use and when self-harming behaviours are present. (Lecture slides week two, 2015)

Youth workers do a lot of work around diversion programs with their young people, it is not uncommon that a youth worker will work with a client who due to difficult circumstances has gotten into trouble with the justice system, is using drugs or may even be self-harming. When these issues arise youth workers will work with their young person and usually their families to support them.

Young people who pass through the justice system may be referred to YSS (youth support service) which is a service in which youth workers work with young people to re-engage them in school, complete goals or improve family relations. It was found that 78% of all young people that attended YSS in the Melbourne metro and Latrobe Valley area completed the program and did not re-offend. (YSS, 2013)

Youth work and restorative practice would also work in parallel in the way certain situations could be handled, if a young person has committed a legal offence they may be asked to attend a restorative conference in order to repair the harm they have caused. However the same principle of a conference or circle can be utilised by a youth worker in a number of situations, especially when working within a school or Residential care unit, as conflict is inevitable when you have any group of people together. Youth workers may use a circle to discuss a number of matters, ranging from bullying to a stolen item.

What restorative justice and diversion programs aim to accomplish is really something remarkable, when a restorative conference takes place it can be very confronting for both parties, for the victim and family because they have to face the offender, get answers they may not be ready to hear (depending on the nature of the case) and hear the offenders side of the story, on the other hand it is also very confronting for the offender because they have to face the victim and the family and own up to what they have done wrong.

Whilst this is confronting it has also been shown to be beneficial for both parties. As it helps both parties to heal, for the victim and family it gives them the chance to talk to the offender and come to some kind of resolution, they get to ask questions and say how they are feeling and get out all of their pent up emotions. It is also beneficial for the offender because whilst talking to the family and the victim some of the guilt and shame they are feeling may lift depending on how the information they are telling is received.

The benefit of restorative conferences can be seen in action during the restorative conference held between the family of murder victim Kathy Leno Daniel and one of the offenders Gary Brown, only fifteen years old at the time of committing the crime. The restorative conference that takes place enables Kathy’s daughter and family to ask the hard questions and find out what really happened the night she was murdered and to get the answers they were seeking. As stated above whilst confrontational the conference is also very beneficial for both parties as it gives both a sense of closure. The family of Kathy now know what happened on the night of her murder and the events leading up to it, While Gary was able to remove some of his guilt and feel better about himself saying “i do feel better about myself because I did accomplish something good “.

Restorative justice and Diversion programs are positive for young people because it gives the young person a chance to avoid a finding of guilt and a criminal record which will affect them later in life when trying to find a job. Whilst restorative justice is great there are some instances in which it doesn’t seem appropriate to use. (Oprah, 2014)

Firstly if a young person is a repeat offender and has no intention to change than the conference will not be beneficial for any of the parties involved, the young person must want to change and grow otherwise there will be no benefit.

With that being said I believe that there are also certain crimes that should not be dealt with by using restorative justice, such crimes as sexual assault or rape, as a conference could possibly do more harm than good, the victim is likely to be very fearful and scared of the offender and putting them in close proximity of one another may cause psychological distress for the victim.

In conclusion restorative practices are beneficial when used, however it has to be voluntary for there to be a positive outcome. Restorative practices go hand in hand with youth work, utilising some of he same techniques.

References

Restorative pracices lecture slides week two

Oprah Restorative Justice (Part 1) - YouTube. 2015. Oprah Restorative Justice (Part 1) - YouTube. [ONLINE] Available at:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UgabsOQCa0. [Accessed 14 May 2015].

Watchel, T.D, 2012. defining restorative. international instiute for restorative practices, 1, 1-12.

Youth Support Service (YSS) | YSAS - Youth Support + Advocacy Service, Support for Alcohol and Drugs. 2015. Youth Support Service (YSS) | YSAS - Youth Support + Advocacy Service, Support for Alcohol and Drugs. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.ysas.org.au/youth-support-service-yss. [Accessed 20 May 2015].