Navigating the Accountability and Wellbeing Nexus: Practitioners’ experiences of restorative justice processes with youth violent offenders

Abstract

This thesis examines how youth justice professionals utilise effective strategies to address the underlying causes of violent youth offending with reference to section 208(fa) of the Children Young Person’s and their Families Act 1989. This particular section is important as those who work in the youth justice sector are required to navigate the intersection between holding youth offenders to account and ensuring their wellbeing while also giving an additional emphasis to addressing underlying causes. The intersections of youth justice, restorative justice and interpersonal family violence highlight the complexities of practice when working with youth who violently offend. It also illustrates the challenges associated with negotiating the wellbeing and accountability nexus that youth justice professionals are faced with when formulating effective, sustainable youth justice family group conference (YJ FGC) plans to help address the complexities that contribute to the offending and wellbeing of a young person. This study examines the perspectives of eleven Auckland based youth justice practitioners to explore their perceptions of their role, the YJ FGC process, and in particular how section 208(fa) is interpreted and implemented in its intended spirit. The restorative justice concept (as a practice model) is also explored in terms of its applicability to the youth justice sector. The participant comments and thematic analysis demonstrated that practitioners kept the young person in the forefront of decision making processes, but there was a significant difference in the interpretation of effective strategies in comparison to the literature regarding interventions that address the complexities faced by young people who offend. Structural constraints, professional roles, and resourcing short-falls are identified as significant factors in accounting for this disparity. This thesis suggests that practitioners need a better level of understanding, training and support to addresses the underlying causes and associated risk and protective factors related to offending to effectively provide interventions with the young people and their families within a holistic framework.