Restorative Justice With Youth Sex Offenders: Issues for Practice

Abstract

The South African child justice system has adopted the philosophy of restorative justice in the management of child and youth offenders in general as reflected in the preamble of the Child Justice Act 75 of 2008. Whilst restorative justice has been easily applied to less serious youth crimes generally, there seems to be some reservations regarding its appropriateness to dealing with youth sex offenders. This article looks at restorative justice approach within the context of diversion and seeks to highlight practice issues that need to be considered with regard to the application of the aforementioned approach in dealing with youth sex offenders. The article draws from the findings of a Doctoral study that the author conducted which explored this area of social work practice.

Restorative justice by means of concessions on custodial sentences: The New Zealand approach and possible lessons for South Africa

“…Gxubane is critical of criminal justice practitioners' tendency to place some cases, especially serious ones, beyond the realm of RJ. 16 He attributes this practice to the misguided view that RJ and punishment are diametrically opposed, and as such cannot co-exist. This assumption is puzzling in light of certain commentators' argument that some punishment is necessary to enhance the effectiveness of RJ.…”