About the YJB
Work with Victims
Being a victim of crime involves loss or harm
, and is distressing and traumatic. Victims need to be supported, informed and satisfied in their dealings with the Criminal Justice System and addressing their needs will help improve public confidence in the youth justice system.
Victims should receive high standards of service from youth offending teams (YOTs), in accordance with the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime [opens in new window], which was implemented in April 2006. The YJB has published a summary of this code to help YOTs comply with it. The code sets out the minimum level of service to be provided to victims by a range of organisations. No single organisation has an obligation to support every victim, but the code aims to ensure that all victims have access to appropriate and timely support, suited to their individual needs
Restorative justice
Restorative justice provides greater opportunities for those directly affected by a crime – victim, offender and members of the community – to communicate and agree how to deal with the offence and its consequences, than the traditional justice system. Research commissioned by the YJB indicates that victims who participate in restorative processes experience high levels of satisfaction; but victims must have an open, free and informed choice about whether and how to participate.
The focus of the YJB is twofold:
- victim satisfaction – reducing the fear of crime and ensuring that victims feel “paid back” for the harm that has been done to them
- engagement with the young person to ensure that they are aware of the consequences of their actions and sign up to a plan to make amends for their offence and reduce the risk of reoffending.
The principles of young people making amends for offending behaviour, and consultation with victims of youth crime, have always underpinned the YJB’s work. We set targets for YOTs to develop restorative approaches and ensure a high level of victim satisfaction.
We have created Key Elements of Effective Practice – Restorative Justice to help practitioners, managers and strategic partnerships use restorative justice processes.
We have also developed and implemented the Restorative Justice in Schools project, which research has shown to:
- improve pupil behaviour
- resolve disputes
- reduce the fear of bullying and further conflict
- reintegrate excluded young people into school.
The YJB works with YOTs, the police and the Government to review whether restorative justice can be more effective in managing early prevention and interventions for young people, and reduce the unnecessary use of court or reprimands and Final Warnings.
The consultation document, Developing Restorative Justice: An Action Plan [opens in new window, 42.9Kb PDF], was published in November 2006 and sets out proposed actions to be carried out to promote effective restorative justice practices.