ABSTRACT
Restorative justice first gained popularity with academics, researchers and criminal justice policy-makers, in part due to a general feeling that traditional, retributive systems of justice were failing victims, offenders and the community. Supporters and proponents of the restorative justice paradigm argued that interventions based on the principles of restorative justice could achieve the necessary criminal justice goals of offender accountability, community safety and victim restoration, and could attain these objectives in ways that were meaningful and impacted the lives of those responsible and affected by crime. Since its general introduction in the 1970s, there has been a growing debate concerning the role of restorative justice in addressing, deterring and responding to young offenders. Crucial issues debated in the literature concern the theoretical and practical roles for restorative justice within existing criminal justice systems for youth, and the ability of the restorative justice paradigm to transform, or even replace, existing retributive justice systems. Other significant issues in the literature include a focus on the actual implementation of restorative justice initiatives and programmes for young offenders, and evaluations of the effectiveness of these restorative justice programmes.
