Why Restorative Justice? - Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation

WHAT CHOICES ARE THERE?
forgiveness for her. More extraordinary still, Steve and Gilda now speak
together to young offenders in prison, on the dangers of drugs and guns.
Emily and Sarah
Emily was referred to the Youth Offending Team after being warned by
the police for making a threatening phone call to Sarah, a former close
friend at school. An assessment visit made by mediators revealed that there
were tensions at home between Emily and her parents. She had stopped
attending school and was now 16, but with little idea of what she wanted
to do next. Emily had resented Sarah for years, since their childhood
friendship turned sour. She had been drinking one evening when she
started talking about her feelings with her mates and made the call.
Emily was considering apologising to Sarah, but wanted to meet
her to talk things through. The mediators contacted Sarah and her
parents and arranged to visit. Sarah agreed to a meeting and the young
women talked at length about their previous friendship and how it had
broken down. It was clear that Emily had been badly affected by her
feelings of rejection. She apologised to Sarah and assured her there
would be no repeat of the phone call.
Following the mediation Emily completed a short course on jobseeking
skills and embarked on a programme with the Prince’s Trust.
Her parents expressed their gratitude for the contact that Emily had with
mediators and felt that the meeting had helped her move on from an
emotional rut that she had been stuck in for years.
Victim/offender conferencing
Victim/offender conferencing follows similar restorative justice
principles but involves more people. It brings together victims,
offenders, their families and supporters, and relevant professionals –
to talk and ask questions about the offence, and to make a plan to
put things right and to prevent further offending. When this
process involves a private planning time for the young person and
their family it is called Family Group Conferencing.
Robin
Robin, aged 17, had been in and out of trouble for three years, with
offences of theft from a car, theft from shops and four burglaries. He had
fallen out with his family because of his offending, and was living in the
home of one of his friends whose parents had decided to help him.
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