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"Crawford and Burden's report is a welcome addition to the emerging literature on the implementation, value and difficulties of applying restorative justice principles within the youth justice context in England and Wales and its accessibility and good practice recommendations will ensure its wide appeal."
Youth Justice
Synopsis

It is a key aim of current youth justice policy to introduce principles of restorative justice and involve victims in responses to crime. This is most evident in the referral order and youth offender panels established by the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999. However, the challenges involved in delivering a form of restorative youth justice that is sensitive to the needs of victims are considerable. This report provides an illuminating evaluation of the manner in which one Youth Offending Service sought to integrate victims into the referral order process.
Full Description

It is a key aim of current youth justice policy to introduce principles of restorative justice and involve victims in responses to crime. This is most evident in the referral order and youth offender panels established by the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999. However, the challenges involved in delivering a form of restorative youth justice that is sensitive to the needs of victims are considerable.

This report provides an illuminating evaluation of the manner in which one Youth Offending Service sought to integrate victims into the referral order process. The study affords in-depth insights into the experiences and views of victims and young people who attended youth offender panel meetings. It places these in the context of recent policy debates and principles of restorative justice.

The report:

· tracks a 6 month cohort of cases in 2004;
· provides an analysis of in-depth interviews with victims, young offenders and their parents;
highlights the challenges associated with integrating victims into restorative youth justice;
· · · · · offers recommendations with regard to the involvement of victims in referral orders.

This timely report will be of great value to youth justice policy-makers and practitioners, researchers and students of criminology and criminal justice, as well as all those interested in restorative interventions and the role of victims in the justice process.

Researching Criminal Justice series
Crime and justice are issues of central political and public concern in contemporary Britain. This exciting new series presents top quality research findings in the field. It will contribute significantly to policy and practice debates and aims to improve the knowledge base considerably. The series will be essential reading for politicians and policy makers, academics, researchers and practitioners.
For other titles in this series, please follow the series link from the main catalogue page.

Adam Crawford is Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice and Director of the Centre for Criminal Justice Studies at the University of Leeds. Tom Burden is a Principal Research Fellow at the Policy Research Institute at the Leeds Metropolitan University.