Origin and Development of Family Group Conferences (From Family Group Conferences: Perspectives on Policy and Practice, P 17-36, 1996, Joe Hudson, Allison Morris, et al, eds. - See NCJ-161303)

• NCJ Number: 161304
• Author(s): I Hassall
• Date Published: 1996
• Length: 20 pages
• Sale Source: Criminal Justice Press/Willow Tree Press
• Publication Type: Historical Overview
• Language: English
• Country: Australia

Annotation

Family group conferences are discussed with respect to their origins and development in New Zealand starting in 1989, as well as their intended purposes and outcomes.

Abstract

Until 1989, New Zealand, like many other countries, gave the courts the primary responsibility for juvenile offenders and abused and neglected children. However, in 1989, New Zealand passed the Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act, which gave extended families the primary responsibility for making decisions about these young people. The law reflected four philosophical themes: family responsibility, children's rights (including the right to due process), cultural acknowledgment, and partnership between the government and the community. The law resulted from a variety of pressures for reform. The expected advantages of family group conferences include continuity, pride, ownership, extension, meaningfulness, learning, satisfaction, repair, truth, privacy, and effectiveness. Each advantage also contains a risk, however. Thus, continuity of family ties is not an advantage in a family with destructive relationships and abuse; pride in membership in an abusive or criminal subculture may be reinforced. The child protection and juvenile justice systems have a major responsibility for maximizing the advantages and minimizing the risks. Their role is crucial in helping produce satisfactory outcomes and establishing the credibility of the process. 21 references