NCJ Number
149569
Editor(s)
C Alder,
J Wundersitz
Date Published
1994
Length
220 pages
Annotation
This book presents papers delivered at a seminar on "Family Group Conferences: Debating the Issues," which was held in Melbourne, Australia, in June 1993; types of family conferences used in Australia and New Zealand are described and their benefits and drawbacks are assessed.
Abstract
In each of the settings in which family group conferences have been introduced as part of the juvenile justice system, the participation of families and victims is a key feature of the process. A family group conference is a relatively informal, loosely structured meeting in which offenders and their extended families meet with their victims and their supporters, along with any other relevant parties, to discuss the offense and to negotiate appropriate responses. A number of the papers point up the differences in the way family conferences operate in various juvenile justice systems. Concerns about the implications of the positioning of family group conferences in the juvenile justice system are central to a number of the issues raised by papers in the second section of the book. Almost all contributors raise questions about the role of police in family group conferencing. Some believe police operate in a coercive manner to persuade juveniles not to contest their cases in the formal juvenile court. All the papers in this section emphasize the need to ensure due process and the protection of a juvenile's legal rights. There is general agreement among the seminar participants that family conferencing in its various forms must be regularly evaluated to ensure they are having their intended effects and avoiding the potential dangers identified by its critics. Chapter references and a subject index