Impacts of restorative justice on youth in conflict with the law : a narrative approach

Restorative justice is meant to be an alternative to retributive justice by putting the process and outcome of justice back in the hands of those involved in a crime. Through narrative inquiry, this study posed the question, “how does restorative justice impact youth in conflict with the law?” Anti-oppressive perspectives and critical and post-modern theories were used to analyze the narratives of participants and provide insight into the potential of restorative justice as an empowering alternative to retributive justice. Youth found the process beneficial in a number of ways. However, youth still experienced criminalization before participating in a restorative justice program, suggesting that the model is unable to completely minimize the marginalizing impacts of retributive justice. Furthermore, participants’ narratives demonstrated the need for the restorative justice model to incorporate a critical analysis of intersectionality into its program delivery to avoid mirroring the oppressive relations of the mainstream system.