ABSTRACT
Restorative justice practices have increasingly gained prominence as viable justice-system strategies throughout the last few decades. Various programmes, practices and systemic initiatives have arisen in the United States (Umbreit 2001; McCold and Wachtel 1998; Bazemore and Schiff 2002), Europe (Walgrave 1999; Weitekamp 1999; Young and Hoyle 2002; Miers 2001), Australia (Daly 2001; Sherman et al. 2000), New Zealand (Morris and Maxwell 2001), and Canada (Stuart 2001; Bonta et al. 1998). These have ranged from small, ad hoc initiatives in local communities (e.g., in many US states), to system-wide initiatives intended to alter the manner in which young people are processed through the juvenile justice system (e.g. in Australia and New Zealand). There have, however, been few systematic attempts to capture the prevalence of such initiatives in a single country and to examine the degree to which practice is operating consistent with, and informed by, restorative values and principles (Bazemore and Schiff 2002).
