The Importance of Restorative Practices in Youth Justice

The assignment emphasizes the need for justice systems to adopt restorative practices that prioritize rehabilitation and punishment as equally important aspects of youth justice. It examines the depth of crimes and characteristics of offenders to implement effective methods. The importance of restorative practices is highlighted through various references, including books, journals, and online resources.

Evaluate Whether The
Youth Justice System
Is Focused On
Punishment Or The
Rehabilitation Of
Young

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Justice is a concept or a phenomena widely used globally which describes a certain kind
of behaviour in individuals which promotes fairness, moral righteousness and lawful act
inclusive of all natural as well as legal rights bore by them (Hawkins and Weis, 2017). The
following report is based on the justice system of England and Wales and its inclination towards
punishment or rehabilitation of the young.
MAIN BODY
The justice system of England and Wales have been quite sincere as well as severe in
giving notable punishments as well as options for rehabilitation to criminals to rightfully serve
them for the crime they have committed. Based on the motive and intensity behind crimes
committed by individuals in the country, the sentences given to them focus on giving utmost
justice to the accused as well as to victims (Baker and et. al., 2016).
The crime rate in England and Wales in 1995 was the highest after which more strict laws
took place which somewhat aided the agenda of the justice system for a crime-free nation.
However, there has been a significant rise in the crime rate of the country recently. According to
various figures provided by the police, there has been almost a 14% rise in crimes in the country
yearly (Rise in recorded crime is accelerating in England and Wales, 2019).
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Illustration 1: Police recorded crimes in England and Wales. Data: October to September
(Source: Rise in recorded crime is accelerating in England and Wales, 2019)
However, notably there are no major incidences of rise in crimes of major category, but
there were rise in crimes involving guns and knives, a low-incidence yet harmful category.
The youth justice system of England and Wales undertakes individuals below the age of
18 under trial in case of criminal offences. The age of criminal responsibility in the place is 10
years. Mostly, in case of crimes, children and young individuals are tried in Youth Court in
presence of various magistrates or district judge. To protect the privacy of these individuals,
these cases are heard in a private setting. Recently, due to increase in crimes committed by
children and the youth, the accused are subjected to Crown Court.
Youth are an integral part of the society. It is imperative for the system to establish
practices that could promote collective good in the country. There are various cases in England
and Wales which broadens the understanding of the decisions made by the youth justice system
regarding punishment or rehabilitation of the young.
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One such case is Regina v Reyon Menelek Dillon (2017). The appellant in this case was
16 year old when he gave access to his bank account which was used for holding stolen funds.
He was pleaded guilty in the crown court for arrangement of receiving and conversion of
criminal property when he was 17. The case took a drastic twist when the appellant was
sentenced in Crown Court to Youth Rehabilitation order despite of referral orders recommended
in his pre-sentenced report (A case on Referral Orders in the Crown Court, 2018). Such case
studies are examples which effectively helps in gaining insight over the motive of the youth
justice system to help individuals rehabilitate and build a better future for themselves as well as
the community.
There are various programmes that have been implemented with the support of the youth
justice system in England and Wales that have a prime agenda of ensuring good practices within
the youth and enhancing their commitment towards ethical behaviour and rightfulness. One such
programme was Beyond Youth Custody which was a six-year long awareness programme in
England. It was closed on 31st May, 2018 and was completely dedicated to rehabilitate the youth.
The main agenda of this programme was to communicate with young people and ensure that all
the aspects within them that are required to be changed are duly met with the necessary support.
This programme changed countless lives and eradicated the possibility of re-offending which
could guarantee the betterment of the youth and ultimately the society. One such case was about
Tyler who continuously breached the Anti-Social Behaviour Orders and his criminal record was
inclusive of drug possession and criminal damage. When this person was 19 years old, he was
convicted under some pretty serious criminal acts and was acquainted with similar individuals
like him. Ultimately, he was labelled as a Prolific and Priority Offender (PPO). This resulted in
him being part of a project and was placed under probation supervision. The project was
successful and currently Tyler has an accommodation and is currently looking for various
opportunities regarding improvement in his personal and professional life (Beyond YOUTH
CUSTODY: Tyler, 2019).
The youth justice system in England and Wales is emphasising more on a constructive
approach for young individuals who somehow commit crimes which have grave circumstances
elsewhere. As per Youth Justice Statistics of the year 2016-17, about 11,200 youths which
represented almost 35% of individuals given community sentences were given Youth
Rehabilitation Orders. Even after such practices, the re-offending rates of children and youths
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raised by 4% as compared to the numbers almost 10 years ago. Following is the graph which
clearly depicts the rate of re-offences in the recent past (Youth Justice annual statistics: 2016 to
2017, 2018).
Illustration 2: Reoffending rate by index disposal, England and Wales, years ending March
2006, March 2015 and March 2016
(Source: Youth Justice Statistics 2016/17. 2018)
As per the statistics, more than 65% of the individuals who received rehabilitation orders
re-offended crimes on some or the other occasions. It must be a cause of concern for the youth
justice system as it promotes ethical and positive practices towards accused children and young
individuals. However, there are various other cases where the offender is sentenced to
rehabilitation. This happens if and when the offender needs psychiatric assistance or if the
juvenile was under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Moreover. There are certain evidences in
the past case studies that reflect the practice of rehabilitation if the crime was committed in self-
defence.
However, with positive approaches being adopted by the Youth Justice System, it is not
necessary that the long-term outcomes of the same are favourable for the community. Sometimes
hard steps are required to be taken by the law to rightfully serve justice to the offenders
regardless of their age.
There are various cases where the court ordered sentences that were intended to punish
the offenders. These were necessary seeing the depth, intensity and motive behind the criminal
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act. One such case study is R v Aaron Connor Joseph: R v Derice William Wright: R v Lee
Warren: R v William John Cooley, CA (Crim Div) (Simon LJ, Foskett J, Warby J), 24/08/2018.
The judgement, however slightly lenient, still was a great example of the steps that are required
to be taken by the law to teach various effective lessons to young criminals. The incident
happened when five young individuals planned an attack on a 17 year old boy. While all the
other attackers were convicted of assault and manslaughter, one of them stabbed the victim in his
neck. The result was that he got convicted of murder. They were punished and served
imprisonment for this offence (A case on sentencing children and young adults for
manslaughter, 2018.). Such cases are usually eye-openers for law practitioners to take each
aspect into account and charge the offenders with effective punishment to eradicate the
possibility of such unlawful act again. Furthermore, such cases are an example for other young
individuals of the harsh ways that these people could be subjected to in case of such offences.
As per re-offending rate index mentioned above, the re-offending rate of individuals who
receive custodial sentences are more than 68%. However, there are certain restorative justice
methods that are being implemented by the youth justice system to effectively improve them and
have long-term effect on them where justice is concerned. The most prominent method used by
the system is Youth Conferencing, where the offender comes in face-to-face with the victim,
their family and members of the community. The agenda of this conference is to give these
individual an opportunity to make amends with their victims the result of which could help in
reduction of future crimes.
There has always been a long-standing debate about what could be more favourable:
punishment or rehabilitation. However, each of the two aspects are equally necessary to keep
balance in the justice system and both have their unique set of advantages in the eyes of law. As
for England and Wales, this it is quite clear that the justice system seems to favour rehabilitation
over punishment given the benefits of the former and disadvantages of the latter (Daly, 2017).
As per the viewpoints of Hope Christopher (2019), the prisons in Britain are no longer a
place for punishments. They are subjected to riots, smuggling and formation of gangs which
have a drastic and a negative effect on juvenile and youth prisoners. It is also evident that there
has been a significant rise in police force areas of England and Wales recently. In addition to
this, the prisons of England and Wales are overcrowded with imprisonment rate of 150
individuals per 100,000 of the overall population in the place (The old debate: punish prisoners,
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or rehabilitate them?, 2019). This is perhaps one of the reasons which refutes the youth justice
system to incline towards punishments as the place needs to effectively reform its strategies
through which it manages the criminals.
As per the statistics presented above as well as the stated facts, there are various benefits
associated with rehabilitation. The first of them being social reconstruction. As per the law, the
offender has to serve a probation period under an officer who keeps a track of their activities and
guides them through each of the step which they are willing to take. This allows them to ensure
proper guidance for their future and establishment of ethical practices which are necessary to
enhance the goodness inside these offenders.
The second benefit of rehabilitation is that it ensures fulfilment of utilitarian approach
which is most effective in this case as it involves the overall benefit of the society. Being
rehabilitated would allow the offenders to contribute to the society which would help them get
accepted in a much better way. Effective guidance could go a long way to ensure proper
treatment of the offender so that they could get at least one true chance of redemption (Guarino-
Ghezzi, 2017).
The Youth Justice System of England and Wales has modified itself in recent past and
they have started treating young individuals like children before offenders. This system is
focusing on minimising the role of police and courts to protect the future life prospects of these
young people. Currently, this system is channelising its energy towards providing these
individuals support from the community which is necessary for them to ensure positive changes
within them. Restorative approach is being adopted by this system to ensure that these
individuals get the right treatment, education and support. Moreover, their needs are effectively
addressed to make them realise that the community is with them. As per the facts stated above,
the re-offending rate after rehabilitation is lower than that of custodial sentencing, which clearly
denotes that the inclination of the youth justice system of England and Wales towards
rehabilitation of the young is well justified and absolutely effective.
Where punishment is concerned, it is not necessary that every decision taken by the court
be in favour of rehabilitation. Sometimes, due to severe crimes and no remorse, the court has to
take harsh decisions to protect the community from dangerous offenders and keeping them in a
place where they could learn the right behaviour effectively and be effective use for themselves,
their peers as well as for the overall society (Van Ness and Strong, 2014).
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CONCLUSION
Thus, it is concluded that it is imperative for justice system to use restorative practices to
convict and transform youth as they have long term effects on these individuals. The practices
law adopts with the offenders reflects on how their lives could shape up after accomplishment of
their sentences. Rehabilitation and Punishment are equally important and must be implemented
after examining the depth of the crime and characteristics of the offenders. Lastly, it is important
for justice systems to opt for methods out of these two as per the cases so that maximum benefit
could be provided by law to citizens of the country.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Baker, T., and et. al., 2016. Crime salience and public willingness to pay for child saving and
juvenile punishment. Crime & Delinquency. 62(5). pp.645-668.
Daly, K., 2017. Restorative justice: The real story. In Restorative Justice (pp. 85-109).
Routledge.
Guarino-Ghezzi, S., 2017. Balancing juvenile justice. Routledge.
Hawkins, J.D. and Weis, J.G., 2017. The social development model: An integrated approach to
delinquency prevention. In Developmental and Life-course Criminological Theories
(pp. 3-27). Routledge.
Van Ness, D.W. and Strong, K.H., 2014. Restoring justice: An introduction to restorative justice.
Routledge.
Online
A case on Referral Orders in the Crown Court. 2018. [Online]. Available through:
<https://yjlc.uk/a-case-on-referral-orders-in-the-crown-court/>
A case on sentencing children and young adults for manslaughter. 2018. [Online]. Available
through: <https://yjlc.uk/a-case-on-sentencing-children-and-young-adults-for-
manslaughter/>
Beyond YOUTH CUSTODY: Tyler. 2019. [Online]. Available through:
<hhttp://www.beyondyouthcustody.net/case-studies/case/tyler/>
Hope C., 2019. Prisons no longer place for punishment, ministers say [Online]. Available
through: <https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/04/13/prisons-no-longer-place-
punishment-ministers-say/>
Rise in recorded crime is accelerating in England and Wales. 2019. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/jan/25/knife-and-gun-rises-sharply-in-
england-and-wales/>
The old debate: punish prisoners, or rehabilitate them?. 2019. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/10514678/The-old-debate-punish-
prisoners-or-rehabilitate-them.html/>
Youth Justice annual statistics: 2016 to 2017. 2018. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/youth-justice-annual-statistics-2016-to-
2017>
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