From Oranga Tamariki:
Youth justice family group conferences (FGCs) give the child or young person – with their whānau, victims and professionals – a chance to help find solutions when they have offended.
But victim participation rate in Family Group Conferences - the holy grail of youth justice - is very low. Hence, I imagine, the reason OT commissioned Behavioural Insights to study why.
Only about one in five victims physically attends.
The reasons given by interviewed non-attendees are not being able to take time from work and non-compenastion for travel,childcare costs incurred etc. Fear of retribution rates a mention. Also victims were unhappy with reparations or lack of for stolen, damaged or destroyed property. This makes perfect sense.
Moving along, the immediate concern must be the diminished usefulness of FGCs with no participating victim, and the message that non-participation sends to the offender.
According to Andrew Becroft (ex principal Youth Court Judge, now Children's Commissioner):
Most importantly, the FGC provides the opportunity for a face to face encounter with avictim, which can be very emotional and raw. This is the restorative power of the FGC.
But in eighty percent of cases that potential cannot be realised.