“Shame, Forgiveness, Juvenile Justice.”

Source: (1996) In: M.C. Braswell, B.R. McCarthy, and B.J. McCarthy (eds.), Justice, Crime and Ethics (2nd Ed). Cincinnati, OH: Anderson Publishing.

Analyses the emerging “Wagga Model” for an audience concerned with the ethical basis of criminal justice policy. The model is placed in the context of wider debates in psychology, sociological criminology, and political philosophy. Family group conferences are placed in context of Braithwaite’s theory of reintegrative shaming and rituals of apology and forgiveness, and Rawl’s theory of justice. The primary purpose of FGCs is an educative process and community empowerment technique. Moore then addresses the criticisms of FGCs from both communitarianism and liberalism. He concludes that the decentralized, community based, and gradualist nature of FGC implementation will allow the model to continue to expand in its range of application and offenses.