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Young people, trouble, and crime: Restorative justice as a normative theory of informal social control and social support

Bazemore, Gordon
June 4, 2015

Source: (2001) In Bringing restorative justice to adolescent substance abuse, ed. Kathryn G. Herr. Special issue of Youth & Society 33 (December), 199-226. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

In this article Bazemore surveys the new discourse and emerging practice associated with restorative justice as a framework for understanding and responding to crime and a variety of harmful behaviors by young people. Underlying his approach are two premises: (1) the full potential of restorative justice has yet to be exploited; and (2) if restorative justice is to live up to its potential, it must be linked to broader concerns than individual offenders and crime victims. Specifically, the normative theory and practice of restorative justice should inform mechanisms for informal social control and informal social support as forms of community social capital in the socialization of young people. To argue his perspective, Bazemore looks at restorative justice and three other visions of response to youth crime; three principles of restorative justice that must undergird a normative theory of intervention; and restorative justice and social capital.

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