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Introduction

Juvenile criminality has always being a heatedly debated topic in the forum of the of the criminal justice system. Indeed it is a problem that extends far beyond its nominal scope. A junior offender inducted into the criminal justice system without reform may become a serious offender in the future. In the past, many cases where Juveniles offender has come into contact with the criminal justice process, there was neither reconciliation nor rehabilitation. Indeed this served as catalyst to further push the juvenile away from the path of the Good Samaritan. The prevention of youth crime is important because criminality in youth often lead into more serious crimes and greater penalties if no prevention systems are put in place. In Australia youth crime represent one in four crimes responded to by police, (Cuneen, C. & White, R. 2002 Pg: 67) While only representing 4% of all serious offences, youth crime is still a prominent area of criminality, as they maintain the highest rate of re-offence, and youth crime is often committed in groups, as well as without caution or provision. (Cuneen, C. & White, R. 2002 Pg: 65) The first steps taken towards a system that catered for Juvenile justice were the Welfare system in the 1960s. ...read more.

Middle

In addition it took into account matters such as the social and economical background of the offenders. In this the restorative system have three main foci, it puts emphasis on the feelings and experience of the victims, it gives legal actors decision making authority, and it sets a setting where all parties, such as the victims and the offenders can communicate to work out problems. (AIC 2004 Pg: 1) The restorative justice system has seen the rise of several programs both short term and long term to deal with the problem of juvenile criminality. The Yong Offenders act saw the use of new ways to engage with potential and occurring young offenders. The processes involved giving a warning to the child, issuing cautions and holding youth conferences for non-serious offenders. (Johns, R. 2003 Pg: 12) The point of this was to establish a "limited police and justice system resources through a significant increase in the use of alternative interventions for young people." (Johns, R. 2003 Pg: 13) In performing theses roles, as new occupation was created within the police force called the Specialist Youth Officer. The Specialist Youth Officer is a member of the police service who is appointed by the commissioner of police for the purpose of the act. ...read more.

Conclusion

(Taylor, N. & Veld, M. 2004 Pg: 14) This is a clear indication of the success of the 1997 Young Offenders act, the combined efforts of policing, conferencing, and the multi-tier networking of organisations such as DOCS, Education Department, Charities such as the Salvation Army and the ethical theories of the Restorative Justice System. REFERENCE LIST 1. Australian Institute of Criminology AICrime Reduction Matters: No. 20: "Restorative Justice as a Crime Prevention Measure." ISSN 1448 - 1383 24 February 2004. http://aic.gov.au/publications/crm/crm020t.html. 2. Borowski, A. & O'Connor, L. (eds) (1997) Models of Juvenile Justice: Juvenile Crime: Justice and Corrections, longman, Melbourne. 3. Cunneen, C. & White, R. (2002) The Nature of Contemporary Juvenile Crime, in Juvenile Justice: Youth & Crime in Australia, Oxford University Press, Melbourne. 4. Edwards, C (1999) 'Changing Policing Theories, for 21st Century Societies': The Federation Press, Annandale 5. Elliot, E. and Gordon, R. (2005) New Directions in restorative Justice: Issues, practice, evaluation. London, Willan. Bankstown. 6. Hogg, R. and Brown, D. (1998) 'Rethinking Law and Order', Pluto Press, Annandale 7. Johns, R. (2003) Young Offenders and Diversionary options: NSW Parliamentary research Service, Briefing Paper No: 7/03, Sydney. 8. O'conner, I. (1997) 'Models of Juvenile Justice': Juvenile Crime and Juvenile Crime, Towards 2000 and beyond, Available from: http://www.aic.gov.au/conferences/juvenile/oconnor.pdf [Accessed on: 28/8/2007] 9. Pratt, J. (1993) Chapter 3 Welfare & Justice: Incompatible Philosophies. 10. Shaw, J. (1997) Second Reading Speech on: 'Young Offenders Bill' Hansard, NSW Parliament, Legislative Assembly. ...read more.

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