Restorative Justice and the Future of Youth in the United Kingdom - Essay Example

Restorative Justice and the Future of Youth in the United Kingdom In order to properly evaluate the strengths and weakness of restorative justice, inparticular in the United Kingdom, it would first be useful to explore the definition of this concept. In order for us to be able to evaluate restorative justice, we must first be able to understand it. Restorative justice, conceptually, has existed for centuries. There are early records of restorative justice being applied amongst early First Nations communities in North America, the tribes of post-Christ Europe and even in the time of the Babylonians. In recent times, restorative justice has come to be loosely defined as an approach to judicial matters than focuses on the needs of the victims as well as the offenders. This approach is taken in lieu of the attempting to satisfy the abstract principles of law and order or the desire of a community or individual to apply punishment. When restorative justice is applied, victims are given an active role in the dispute, while offenders often deal face pressure to deal with their actions. In order for us to evaluate the merits of restorative justice, in particular as it pertains to youth justice in the United Kingdom, we will focus first on the history of restorative justice in the U.K. Later, we will offer an analysis of the development of restorative justice policies in the United Kingdom and examine its effects on youth. Finally, we will conclude with an insightful critique of restorative justice and some suggestions for the future. In 1992 Gordon Brown, who would go on to become the Labour Prime Minister of Great Britain, proclaimed that government must not only be tough on crime, but tough on the root causes of crime. Brown’s proclamation, in this case, is truly an exercise of restorative justice principles in action. Restorative justice, although not always in name, had first became notion of relevance in the United Kingdom in the early 1980s. However, it was not necessarily new as there had been occasional instances of victim-offender mediation by individuals for quite a long time, particularly in special schools and therapeutic communities. Most of the early mediation services were largely dependent on visions of particular people or groups, including professionals from probation and psychology, and religious groups such as Anglican clergy and Quaker meetings. Quakers in particular have had a long-standing involvement in restorative approaches. When restorative justice, in the United Kingdom, first shot to relevance in the 1970s and 1980s, many were quick to dismiss it. However, its popularity has risen since. Restorative justice was quickly seen as a favourable option for many. Proponents of restorative justice argue that it brings victims, offenders and communities together to decide on a response to a particular crime. For them, it is putting victims’ needs at the centre of the criminal justice system and finding positive solutions to crime by encouraging offenders to face up to their actions. However “restorative justice can mean different things to different people” (Sherman and Strang 2007, p. 33). After all, restorative justice is applied across a wide variety of different nations and different cultures. Restorative justice practices are put in place in unique countries like China, India, Kenya, New Zealand and South Africa. However, despite the variance in styles of the application of restorative justice across the world, there is one principle uniting factor. All interpretations of restorative justice offer some form of moral vision that guides them. For all of those who believe in restorative justice,it is a shared opinion that “justice requires more than the infliction of a “just dessert” of pain on an offender” (Sherman and Strang 2007, p. 33). In the United Kingdom, all of the main political parties have taken strong stances on restorative justice. Earlier this year, Conservative Shadow Minister for Prisons Alan Duncan MP pledged to “urgently investigate what legislation or Ministerial edict might be necessary to see RJ implemented on a nationwide basis.” The fact that a Conservative Member of Parliament can demonstrate such a strong commitment to restorative justice, historically dismissed as a solidy left-of-centre’ concept, shows that it has become a fixture of the United Kingdom’s judicial system. However, it isworh noting that the Conservatives are not alone in their support of restorative justice. The Labour Party, in its 2010 election manifesto, committed to “bring in a Restorative Justice Act to ensure it is available wherever victims approve it”. Some many point to the fact that Labour had been in government since 1997 and had plenty of time to introduce a restoratice justice act as a criticism. While there may be value to this argument, this commitment in their platform does demonstrate an understanding of the importance of restorative justice and a clear recognition of its significance. In the United Kingdom’s first televised Prime Ministerial debate the party leaders were asked how they will make our country a safer place to live and work. Nick Clegg, Leader of the Liberal Democrats, demonstrated what arguably the strongest commitment to restorative justice. Clegg told his audience “what I’ve seen in my city of Sheffield is that you get these youngsters not when they have done serious crimes, when they are first starting to get into trouble to face their victims, explain why they have done what they have done to their victims, apologise for what they’ve done, make up for what they have done in the community, cleaning up parks and streets. It has a dramatic effect on their behaviour. I want to change people’s behaviour before they become the criminals of tomorrow.” Clegg’s comments about restorative justice and youth are particularly relevant to the discussions presented in this paper. On a smaller and more local level, many schools in the Inted Kingdom have adopted restorative justice practices as a means of settling disputes between students. This also means that teachers, governors, staff and pupils all take part and work to provide teacher and pupil satisfaction, improved communication and co-operation and often increased academic progress. Traditionally, British schools have operated in a manner that sees breaking rules and misbehaving as offences against the school. However, in schools where restorative justice has been applied, everyone in the school shares the responsibility for creating and maintaining the conditions that make for effective teaching and learning. In this way, students are not only playing a role in their school community, but are learning how to deal with real responsibilities. Also, in traditional school environments punishments do not address the underlying causes of misbehaviour nor repair the relationships between those affected by this behaviour. However, in schools where restorative justice has been applied, young people, teachers and parents are empowered to handle conflict is positive ways. In schools were restorative justice has been implemented, regular class and staff circles for community building and problem solving are common. In addition, whole school conflict resolution programmes are often implemented and peer mediation for pupils and teachers is readily available. Also, restorative language used by all adults and restorative meetings are favoured over traditional approaches. Restorative justice has had a positive impact on the young people of the United Kingdom. Restorative justice, on a larger scale, allows the victim to feel some satisfaction in dealing with an offender, but in the case of youth, restorative justice allows them to address to root causes of many problems before they reach a more serious level. Nick Clegg’s position, while undoubtedly put foward for political gain, has been proven true in a number of cases. For example, In 2004 The Scottish Executive established a 30-month pilot project in Restorative Practices in three Local Authorities The pilot project was later extended until 2008. On 27th August the Scottish Executive launched the final report evaluating the 18 pilots. The report indicates that Restorative Practices, "as they are developing in the pilot Local Authorities and schools, can offer a powerful and effective approach to promoting harmonious relationships in school and to the successful resolution of conflict and harm" (Restorative Justice Consortium, 2010). The report also concluded that fourteen of the assessed as had made significant progress either overall or in parts of the school, and a further three had had some experience of success. The report also noted that when restorative justice was introduced with commitment, enthusiasm, leadership and staff development, there was a clear positive impact on relationships in the school. This was identifiable through the views and actions of staff and pupils, as well as evident in measurable reduction of playground incidents, discipline referrals, exclusion and use of external behaviour support. However, restorative justice has had an impact on youth outside of schools as well. Towards the end of the 1990s the UK Government introduced two major pieces of legislation, which started to bring restorative practices into the youth justice system: The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and The Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999. The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 introduced reprimands and final warnings to replace traditional police cautions, for those pleading guilty of less serious offences. It also introduced two new orders for youth courts: action plan orders - a short term intensive response to prevent offending, and reparation orders. These are designed for more serious offences, which do not require a custodial sentence, but where offending behaviour needs to be addressed. The Act created the Youth Justice Board to oversee the implementation of the legislative changes and provide advice on youth offending, and started up multi-agency Youth Offending Teams (YOTS) to deliver the changes at a local level. The Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act introduced Referral orders. These are new court orders available from April 2002. They are given to most 10 to 17-year-olds pleading guilty on a first time conviction, unless the charge is serious enough to warrant custody. After appearing in court, the young person is referred to a Youth Offender Panels (YOP) who consider the best course of action. Despite the fact that the government has taken some action (as mentioned), there is still much work to be done in the area of youth and restorative justice. If we are ever to truly have a justice system in the United Kingdom that focuses on preventative measures, we must continue to exercise the practices of restorative justice in dealing with our young people. The youth of the United Kingdom must come to know more than a simple sentence or a rap sheet. Rather, they must come to understand the real world consequences of their actions and play a role in repairing the damages, both social and physical, that they inflict. This type of action encourages satisfaction on both ends. The victim is satisfied by actually witnessing the rehabilitation of the offender and playing a role in the execution of their punishment. On the other end, the offender is satisfied by coming to gain a greater understanding of the negative effects of their actions. Young people are our most valuable resources. We must foster an environment where they are made fully aware of the true consequences of their actions and, therefore, encouraged to operate in a manner that ensures continued peace and harmony. It has been proven that restorative justice is one of the best ways to accomplish this goal. This evidence should not be dismissed. Rather, it should be carefully analyzed and a the United Kingdom’s justice system moves forward, we should pay careful attention to restorative justice and continue to foster its development - not for us, but for the next generation of British leaders. Works Cited. Sherman L & Strang, H 2007, Restorative justice: the evidence, The Smith Institute Journal, vol. 45, no. 2, pp. 207-226. Restorative Justice Consortium, United Kingdom, viewed 10 May 2010, . Read More