RESTORATIVE JUSTICE APPROACHES TO REDUCING RECIDIVISM AMONG JUVENILE OFFENDERS

Abstract

Restorative justice (RJ) has emerged as a compelling alternative to punitive models in juvenile justice, offering a rehabilitative framework that emphasizes accountability, harm repair, risk reduction, and reintegration. By examining the practices that several RJ approaches entail-mainly victim-offender mediation, Functional Family Therapy, and individual counseling-this thesis uses results from previous studies to determine which overall approaches have the greatest impact on reducing juvenile recidivism, as well as identifying the characteristics that successful approaches share in common. The approaches described in the Literature Review emphasize community- and family-involvement, in addition to including the victim in the process-not only so they can share their side of the story, but also so that the offender is better able to fully grasp the weight that their actions held. The effectiveness of one-on-one counseling is also prevalent in this thesis, as this approach can be tailored to one individual juvenile's needs, specifically in terms of where they are lacking in anger management, communication skills, or elsewhere. The findings that are assessed in the Comparative Analysis conclude that each RJ approach delivered more positive results than a punitive approach, and it is inferred that certain characteristics of each approach are especially effective.