Source: (1999) Emory International Law Review. 13: 283.
Beginning with an anecdote of a family group conference in the wake of a serious crime by juveniles against a family, Jennifer Cunha examines New Zealand’s restorative justice model and juvenile justice in the United States. She sees restorative justice in New Zealand as a new model based on Maori perspectives and John Braithwaite’s concepts of shame, accountability, and forgiveness. This model, practiced primarily though family group conferencing, emphasizes reconciliation and healing in the context of the offender, the victim, and the community. According to Cunha, New Zealand has thus elevated accountability levels and lowered recidivism for juvenile property offenders. With all of this in mind, Cunha goes on to fault juvenile justice in the United States, and to urge the use of family group conferencing in the American juvenile justice system.
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