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Disposition and Treatment of Juvenile Sex Offenders from the Perspective of Restorative Justice

Koss, Mary
June 4, 2015

Source: RESTORE program, Mel and Enid Zuckerman Arizona College of Public Health. To appear in Howard Barbaree, ed. The Juvenile Sex Offender. Downloaded 29 April 2004.

Restorative justice views crime as harm for which the person responsible must be held accountable by a victim-driven, community-based process. This chapter examines juvenile justice processes in Canada and the US and identifies trends toward more intense punishment, routine lack of attention to victim needs, and underutilization of the family. When cases are referred to therapeutic options, multiple system therapies have the strongest empirical success record. However, these approaches also pay scant attention to healing the impact of crime on victims and family members. Incorporating restorative justice principles could strengthen sex offender treatment by involving the direct victims, fostering shared emotion, acknowledgement of wrongdoing, apology, and reparation. These practices enhance the likelihood that victims are satisfied they have received fair justice, strengthen social control within the community, reduce recidivism, and enhance the benefits to offenders by promoting cognitive reframing, empathy, restoration of self-esteem, and community re-integration. Authors’ abstract.

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AbstractCourtsJuvenilePolicePolicyPrisonsRestorative PracticesRJ and the WorkplaceRJ in SchoolsRJ OfficeSex OffenseStatutes and LegislationTeachers and StudentsVictim Support
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