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An Inventory and Examination of Restorative Justice Practices for Youth in Illinois

NCJ Number
243036
Author(s)
Kimberly S. Burke
Date Published
April 2013
Length
85 pages
Annotation
This study examined restorative justice practices for youth.
Abstract
Key findings show that respondents reporting using restorative justice practices were found in 54 Illinois counties, and in many different types of organizations who respond to youth misconduct, including police departments, probation and court services, schools, community-based organizations, and other state and municipal departments; of respondents who indicated the types of restorative justice practices they used (n=69), the most common restorative justice practices used were peer juries (40 percent), circles (17 percent), family group conferencing (16 percent), and victim-offender mediation (23 percent); respondents most commonly used restorative justice practices with non-violent, first time offenders; for program eligibility, restorative justice programs commonly required youth to volunteer to participate, admit guilt for the wrongdoing, and have little or no criminal history; of respondents who listed an agency affiliation (n=114), 68 percent worked within the juvenile justice system, and 65 percent of those working within the juvenile justice system were law enforcement; and of the respondents who indicated the types of restorative justice practices used (n=69), 61 percent reported using a combination of practices; when a single program was used peer jury was the most commonly reported. Tables, figures, appendixes, and references