Formal and informal restorative justice practices for juveniles in Greece.

Source: (2012) Youth Violence Journal. 3(1): 5-19.

In Greece, restorative practices are to some extent applied at the legal level, but have experienced faster growth through informal applications and social programmes, most of which involve young people. Both formal and informal restorative schemes face difficulties and obstacles as to their implementation. A comparative perspective is attempted through an evaluation of a case study from Juvenile Probation Services and qualitative research findings from the activity of the Hellenic Social Mediation Centre. The paper aims to set the criteria for improving the implementation of both formal and informal restorative justice practices for juveniles in Greece. The profile of the target group, issues around programme design, trainers’ skills and ongoing and follow up evaluation tools are discussed and considered as recommendations for policy and practice. (excerpt)