Addressing a key concern about restorative justice, this book draws on fieldwork from 25 programmes in six countries to investigate what form checks and balances exist to prevent degeneration into a kangaroo court.

In reviving the idea of an informal approach to conflict resolution, the Restorative Justice movement attempts to break out of the freedom punitive thinking which shapes modern criminal justice. Its proponents claim that its guiding ideals - personalism, participation, and reintegration -deliver a fairer, more effective, and more humane justice than does the court system. However, a simplistic tendency both to extol the virtues of restorative justice and to denigrate all formal approaches risks blinding enthusiasts to the dangers inherent in unchecked participant power , as well asto the protection which State institutions and professionals can provide to individuals and communities.The procedural safeguard of institutional accountability helps reduce these dangers. Examining the experiences of 25 programmes in six countries, Accountability in Restorative Justice uncovers a number of neglected, overlapping, and incomplete types of accountability, including the informal typebuilt into deliberations between victims and offenders and their supporters. This deliberative accountability can provide a rigorous check for regulating decision-making, holding state agencies accountable, and monitoring the completion of agreements reached between participants.This book also considers the role played by formal types of accountability, such as external review. It suggests a new approach, in which judges become more involved in monitoring the quality of deliberation in restorative justice conferences than with enforcing traditional sentencing principles.

"Restorative justice theory has largely failed to keep pace with the rapid expansion of restorative practices worldwide – indeed, it is remarkable how much support RJ has when so few advocates can even define what it is. As such, this insightful and comprehensive new contribution from two of the top scholars on the frontlines of restorative justice research is hugely welcome." Professor Shadd Maruna, Centre for Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Manchester "Reimagining Restorative Justice is a reflective and balanced reconsideration of restorative justice. It deftly sweeps across the large literature on the subject, putting it in perspective, seeing anew through its wide-angle lens. Empowerment and accountability provide a fertile framework for this richly reimagined justice." Professor John Braithwaite, Australian National University "David O'Mahony and Jonathan Doak have made a significant contribution to the confusing and over-complicated field of restorative justice theory. They do so through their use of empowerment theory to bring conceptual and operational clarity to the concepts of agency and accountability in restorative processes and outcomes. As a result they develop a convincing argument for face to face dialogue between victim and perpetrator within the core of the criminal justice system. Their emphasis upon ethical and skilful practice is a welcome riposte to the rapid spread of 'restorative justice lite' driven by managerialism and the need to cut costs." Tim Chapman, Lecturer at the University of Ulster. "O'Mahony and Doak convincingly argue that rapid developments in the practice of restorative interventions have outstripped restorative justice theory. They provide both an outstandingly helpful review of the literature and a fresh theoretical approach based on empowerment theory. Everyone seriously interested in restorative justice will want to reflect carefully on the authors' conclusions." Anthony Bottoms, Emeritus Wolfson Professor of Criminology at the University of Cambridge. In recent years, restorative-based interventions have expanded rapidly and are increasingly viewed as a legitimate, and even superior means of delivering justice. The result of this swift but piecemeal development has been that restorative justice practice has outpaced the development of restorative justice theory. This book takes up this challenge by 'reimagining' a new framework for the operation of restorative justice within criminal justice. In essence, it is contended that the core empowering values of 'agency' and 'accountability' provide a lens for reimagining how restorative justice works and the normative goals it ought to encompass.

Adolescence is a distinct, yet transient, period of development between childhood and adulthood characterized by increased experimentation and risk-taking, a tendency to discount long-term consequences, and heightened sensitivity to peers and other social influences. A key function of adolescence is developing an integrated sense of self, including individualization, separation from parents, and personal identity. Experimentation and novelty-seeking behavior, such as alcohol and drug use, unsafe sex, and reckless driving, are thought to serve a number of adaptive functions despite their risks. Research indicates that for most youth, the period of risky experimentation does not extend beyond adolescence, ceasing as identity becomes settled with maturity. Much adolescent involvement in criminal activity is part of the normal developmental process of identity formation and most adolescents will mature out of these tendencies. Evidence of significant changes in brain structure and function during adolescence strongly suggests that these cognitive tendencies characteristic of adolescents are associated with biological immaturity of the brain and with an imbalance among developing brain systems. This imbalance model implies dual systems: one involved in cognitive and behavioral control and one involved in socio-emotional processes. Accordingly adolescents lack mature capacity for self-regulations because the brain system that influences pleasure-seeking and emotional reactivity develops more rapidly than the brain system that supports self-control. This knowledge of adolescent development has underscored important differences between adults and adolescents with direct bearing on the design and operation of the justice system, raising doubts about the core assumptions driving the criminalization of juvenile justice policy in the late decades of the 20th century. It was in this context that the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) asked the National Research Council to convene a committee to conduct a study of juvenile justice reform. The goal of Reforming Juvenile Justice: A Developmental Approach was to review recent advances in behavioral and neuroscience research and draw out the implications of this knowledge for juvenile justice reform, to assess the new generation of reform activities occurring in the United States, and to assess the performance of OJJDP in carrying out its statutory mission as well as its potential role in supporting scientifically based reform efforts.

This book examines and offers suggestions for how post-conflict practices should conceptualize and address harms committed by child soldiers for successful social reconstruction in the aftermath of mass atrocity. It defends the use of accountability and considers the agency of youth participants in violent conflict as responsible moral entities.

This book deals with child soldiers’ involvement in crimes under international law. Child soldiers are often victims of grave human rights abuses, and yet, in some cases, they also participate actively in inflicting violence upon others. Nonetheless, the international discourse on child soldiers often tends to ignore the latter dimension of children’s involvement in armed conflict and instead focuses exclusively on their role as victims. While it might seem as though the discourse is therefore beneficial for child soldiers as it protects them from blame and responsibility, it is important to realize that the so-called passive victim narrative entails various adverse consequences, which can hinder the successful reintegration of child soldiers into their families, communities and societies. This book aims to address this dilemma. First, the available options for dealing with child soldiers’ participation in crimes under international law, such as transitional justice and criminal justice, and their shortcomings are analyzed in depth. Subsequently a new approach is developed towards achieving accountability in a child-adequate way, which is called restorative transitional justice. This book is in the first place aimed at researchers with an interest in child soldiers, children and armed conflict, as well as international criminal law, transitional justice, juvenile justice, restorative justice, children’s rights, and international human rights law. Secondly, professionals working on issues of transitional justice, juvenile justice, international criminal law, children’s rights, and the reintegration of child soldiers will also find the subject matter of great relevance to their practice. Dr. Leonie Steinl, LL.M. (Columbia) is a Researcher and Lecturer at the Faculty of Law of the Humboldt-Universität in Berlin.

Restorative justice has developed from a barely known term to a central role in debates on the future of criminal justice. But as it has moved into the mainstream so new tensions and issues have emerged as it becomes increasingly integrated into normal practice, and part of broader legal and judicial systems ­ both in common law countries and those with centralised legal systems. The purpose of this book is to explore this developing relationship between the concepts and practice of restorative justice on the one hand, and the law and legal systems on the other. Amongst the questions it addresses are the following: how are informal processes to be juxtaposed with formal procedures? what is the appropriate relationship between voluntarism and coercion? how can the procedures and practices of restorative justice be combined with legal standards, safeguards and precepts?