Restorative justice in the juvenile system and community reparations

Juvenile Justice

Juvenile delinquents

Shifting to a restorative model, acknowledging the needs of victims

Juvenile justice:

Shifting to a restorative model, acknowledging the needs of victims

The adult justice system in America has long focused upon retribution and community restoration as well as rehabilitation of offenders. Victims must be 'made whole,' not just offenders within the adult system. However, the juvenile justice system has had a far less clear focus upon the restoration of justice to the community than that of its adult counterpart. This is partially due to the oft-expressed view that juveniles are less morally responsible than adults. Juvenile records are usually 'wiped clean' after the adolescents have served their time in probation or prison. The focus of the juvenile justice system is always on the improvement of the life of the juvenile and to reduce the likelihood of recidivism, rather than outright punishment.

On the other hand, juveniles are also prosecuted for so-called status offenses, offenses that are crimes simply because they are juveniles -- thus they are punished even more harshly, because of their legally ambiguous status. This paper will argue that the juvenile justice system should resemble the adult justice system more closely, and focus on making reparations to the community, as well as the rehabilitation of the juvenile offender. The focus should not be on status offenses, but on offenses that do long-standing harm to communities and individuals, and the juvenile should have to give back to the community in restitution, as well as receive counseling and treatment from the justice system.

Court processes

Within juvenile court, the juvenile may be released with a warning, or be subject to court-mandated supervision. The probation officer can put the minor on informal probation and require the minor go to school, do community service, or seek counseling for a specified period of time. Or charges may be filed. "When the probation officer decides what to do, they also decide to let the minor go or keep the minor at the Juvenile Center. If the probation officer suggests to the DA to file charges, the DA's Office will file a petition…. After the DA files a petition, there has to be a detention hearing to decide if the minor should be taken out of their house. If the minor is already locked up, the Court will decide if the minor should stay locked up. If the minor is locked up, they'll have the hearing the day after the DA files the petition… [At the hearing] the minor can question the person who prepared the evidence and the people who gave information in the detention hearing. The minor can also have witnesses to support their side of the story. And, the minor can present evidence of their own. But, for this hearing only, the Court must believe that the petition is true" (Juvenile justice, 2010, Santa Clara).

This is followed by a jurisdictional hearing starts in which the minor can fight the charges, or plead guilty. If the minor is found guilty, either by plea or after cross-examination, there is a Disposition Hearing, in which the judge decides what to do for the minor's care, treatment and guidance, including the minor's punishment. The judge must decide "how to protect the community and keep it safe, how to fix the victim's injury" and very much contrary to adult justice "what's best for the minor" (Juvenile justice, 2010, Santa Clara).

Individuals who have been wronged by juveniles often complain that this system of justice is extremely unfair to victims of crime: the juvenile's welfare, rather than their own becomes the focus of the proceedings. Yet advocates for juveniles would counter that juveniles do not have the maturity and cognitive capacity of an adult, and should not be judged in the same manner as an adult. After all, should an eleven-year-old child's life be 'thrown away' when he or she is still morally developing?

A different model, however, is demanded, beyond that of a purely rehabilitative vision. In fact, to properly rehabilitate the juvenile, it could be argued, it is better to try to encourage them to confront the harms they have done to society in a more constructive manner. Combining punishment and rehabilitation is one of the cornerstones of restorative justice. This philosophy holds that crime is an injury to the victim and community. The victims must be healed, and there is an obligation for offenders of all ages to participate in that healing process. "All parties should be a part of the response to the crime, including the victim if he or she wishes, the community, and the juvenile offender. The victim's perspective is central to deciding how to repair the harm caused by the crime. Accountability for the juvenile offender means accepting responsibility and acting to repair the harm done" (Balanced and restorative justice, 2010, OJJDP). Restoration is essential, and the focus of the juvenile justice system must be on the victim as well as the offender.

Probation

Probation for juveniles often demands some form of obligation of the juvenile to play 'by the rules' such as going to school, not associating with known delinquents, and remaining at home when not in school. These types of restrictions are most common when status offenses are the main reason for the juvenile's apprehension, such as running away or truancy. However, a problem with the juvenile justice system is that its emphasis is often always and only on the moral development of the juvenile, rather than upon the damage he or she did to the victim or the community, even when the juvenile has committed non-status offenses.

Requiring the juvenile to obey certain conditions to secure probation may be valuable. But having the individual engage in community service efforts that directly tie into the crime and writing a letter to his or her victims forces the juvenile took look outside of his or her worldview, and demands that the defendant realize that it isn't 'all about him (or her)' (Uberman 2010). An example of how requirements of probation can be used in a constructive fashion to restore the community as well as the juvenile might be seen in the case of a juvenile convicted of vandalism involving hate speech. The juvenile can be forced to restore and repair the damage of his graffiti and then help build a new garden for the synagogue or church he or she damaged, as well as attend sensitivity-training classes that focuses on rehabilitating his or her perspective.

Corrections

"The most severe sanction that a juvenile court can impose entails the restriction of a juvenile's freedom through placement in a residential facility…Out-of-home placement results in a great burden both on the youth who receive this sanction and on the juvenile justice system itself. The youth experience a disruption in their normal routines, schooling, and family/social relationships. The juvenile justice system must bear the responsibility for mental health care, substance abuse treatment, and education, among other requirements" (Juveniles in corrections, 2010, OJJDP). Very often, such facilities are blurry in terms of their purpose: the focus on education and substance abuse treatment, while valuable, does not address the reason the juvenile is in detention, as opposed to receiving treatment in another venue. Restorative justice stresses that within the corrections system, three cornerstones are demanded: "retributive accountability, rehabilitative healing, and deterrent crime prevention" (Giacomazzi, 2005). Juvenile offenders must be forced to make efforts to heal their victims and the community: rather than remained cloistered in detention. Programs that encourage juveniles to leave the facility and deal with the victimized population require the juvenile to apprehend that the victim is a human being, not an abstraction in his or her own personal drama.

Community services

Restorative justice can be as simple as the juvenile offender speaking with the individual whom he stole from, in the case of a shoplifter, and understanding the extent to which his actions impacted others. For more intractable offenders, restorative justice has involved training in various community-focused skills (such as training dogs for the blind, working in food services, and other measures) as well as helping and interacting with victims. The punishment is constructive, and encourages the offender to have an investment in society, yet it also heals society. Moreover, unlike other juvenile justice programs that are solely rehabilitative, the focus on the harm done by the offense is clear, and there is not simply vague, introverted self-directed healing and learning.

Intervention programs

Intervention programs that make use of restorative justice ideas focus on mediation and communication skills, to prevent crimes from happening in the first place. They also encourage building bridges between law enforcement and the community. If law enforcement is not seen as the enemy, there is less of a need for punishment in the first place.

Leftist critics of restorative justice after a crime has been committed often state that there is too much of a focus on the victim, rather than treating the causes of juvenile crime such as poverty and drug dependence. Conservative critics say it is traumatizing for victims and not sufficiently punitive. Restorative justice is a kind of 'middle way' -- it acknowledges the weighty nature of the crime committed by the offender, and thus teaches the juvenile the costs of his or her crime. It goes beyond merely trying to 'heal' the child. But justice must be about balance: restorative justice strives to punish, but in a constructive manner, and encourages justice to be served for the victim as well as the perpetrator, regardless of age.