Restorative Justice after Mass Violence: Opportunities and risks for children and youth

Restorative Justice after Mass Violence: Opportunities and risks for children and youth

AUTHOR(S)
Laura Stovel; Marta Valiñas

Published: 2010 Innocenti Working Papers
There is growing interest in the role that restorative justice can play in addressing mass atrocities. This paper describes the associated principles and practices within juvenile justice systems and in societies emerging from mass violence. It also examines the meaning, opportunities and limitations of restorative justice in transitional societies, particularly in relation to the needs of young victims and offenders. We argue that procedural forms of restorative justice, involving redress by offenders, face considerable challenges because communities and governments often lack the coercive capacity or will to hold offenders accountable. In contexts where accountability is lacking we argue that pressuring victims to meet with, and forgive, those who harmed them may be inappropriate. Such encounters should only occur where victims see them as necessary to their own healing. Despite the procedural limitations of restorative justice, this perspective (ontology) helps us analyse the route to reconciliation in different conflict contexts and reveals opportunities and challenges for justice and reconciliation in each case. This ontology reveals that intra-communal and inter-communal (ethnic/religious) conflicts have dramatically different justice and reconciliation challenges. In an intra-communal conflict, such as in Sierra Leone, offenders need to reintegrate into communities that they or their factions harmed. The desire to reintegrate into communities that condemn their crimes while accepting them provides opportunities for young offenders to address their crimes. In ethnically divided societies, offenders are often seen as heroes in their communities and may not have to address their crimes until the communities themselves condemn them. This makes restorative justice and reconciliation much more difficult, as communities do not take on the role of promoting accountability for their own members. In such cases, restorative justice efforts must promote social trust between groups. In both intra-communal and inter-communal conflicts, victims are often marginalized by their own communities and receive inadequate assistance. Restorative justice shows us that much can be done to help young victims, and this should become an explicit part of the justice picture. Finally, we argue that traditional justice is not synonymous with restorative justice. While traditional justice is community based and often meaningful to people, many of its forms are retributive; deny a voice to children, youth and other disadvantaged groups; or place community reconciliation above individual justice. Therefore, traditional justice practices should be assessed case by case if they are to be claimed as restorative justice equivalents.
Transitional Justice and the Situation of Children in Colombia and Peru

Transitional Justice and the Situation of Children in Colombia and Peru

AUTHOR(S)
Salvador Herencia Carrasco

Published: 2010 Innocenti Working Papers
This working paper provides an overview of the transitional process in Colombia and Peru, focusing on the situation of children. The adoption of judicial and administrative measures to deal with human rights violations from the past (Peru) and the present (Colombia) is a tool towards the consolidation of democratic institutions. While individual initiatives have been undertaken in both countries, addressing the situation of children in an integrated, comprehensive way is a persistent challenge, as is the exploration of legal tools as a means to demand responsibility.
Transitional Justice and Youth Formerly Associated with Armed Forces and Armed Groups: Acceptance, marginalization and psychosocial adjustment

Transitional Justice and Youth Formerly Associated with Armed Forces and Armed Groups: Acceptance, marginalization and psychosocial adjustment

AUTHOR(S)
T.S. Betancourt; A. Ettien

Published: 2010 Innocenti Working Papers
To support true healing of war-affected populations, including children formerly associated with armed forces and armed groups, transitional justice efforts must attend to the often lasting psychosocial consequences of war in the post-conflict environment. We use key informant and focus group interviews (2002, 2004) to examine the war and post-war experiences of youth, with particular attention to the reintegration experiences of former child soldiers. We found that war-affected youth continued to struggle with a number of issues that thwart their desires and efforts to fulfil their life ambitions, including limited school access, economic instability, social isolation and stigma. Young people were better able to navigate daily stressors when endowed with individual agency and perseverance and surrounded by robust family and community supports. Our findings support the need to adopt a broader view of transitional justice to meet the needs of war-affected children and families, particularly former child soldiers. A developmental view of the impact of war experiences on children is needed that includes advocacy for investments in social services to monitor and support healthy family and community reintegration over time.
Giustizia minorile

Giustizia minorile

Published: 1999 Innocenti Digest
Il Digest sulla Giustizia Minorile prende in esame tutti gli aspetti dell'argomento, dal momento in cui un giovane viene arrestato fino alla sua eventuale incarcerazione o rilascio. Il rapporto tratta anche delle possibilità di prevenzione della criminalità giovanile e di come favorire il reinserimento del trasgressore nella società.
Juvenile Justice

Juvenile Justice

Published: 1998 Innocenti Digest
The third Innocenti Digest deals with the main issues connected with children and young people coming into conflict with the law and contact with the justice system. It looks at standards and problems from arrest through to the court hearing and sentencing, use of custodial measures and ways of avoiding the child’s unnecessary and counter-productive involvement with the formal justice system. It also covers prevention questions. Like previous publications in the series, it contains practical information on the major players and sources of further, more detailed information. El tercer Innocenti Digest trata de los temas principales relacionados con los ninos y los jovenes que llegan en conflicto con la ley y en contacto con el sistema judicial. Ese considera estandares y problemas desde el arresto hasta el audiencia y la sentencia del tribunal, el uso de las medidas de custodia y los procedimientos para evitar la implicacion inutil y contraproducente del nino con el sistema judicial formal. Incluye tambien cuestiones de prevencion. Como otras publicaciones precedentes en la serie, contiene informaciones practicas sobre los mas importantes profesionales y fuentes de ulteriores, mas detalladas informaciones.
Justicia Juvenil

Justicia Juvenil

Published: 1998 Innocenti Digest
Este Digest trata los principales temas relacionados con los niños y jóvenes que entran en conflicto con la ley y en contacto con el sistema judicial. Se analizan las normas y problemas pertinentes, desde el arresto hasta la audiencia y la sentencia del tribunal, el uso de las medidas de custodia y los procedimientos para evitar la frecuentemente inútil y contraproducente implicación del niño en el sistema judicial formal, y se incluye asimismo la cuestión de la prevención. Como otras publicaciones de la serie, este número contiene informaciones prácticas sobre los profesionales más destacados en la materia y sobre ulteriores fuentes más detalladas relativas a temas específicos.
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