Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

In 2014, Norway implemented a reform called ‘Youth supervision’ and ‘Youth sentencing’, inspired by restorative justice principles. This article presents the main content of this reform and considers experiences until today. The discussion looks at some challenges related to the reform: Will reduced imprisonment be the result? Do we see the contours of a panopticon society through this reform? Can young offenders be ‘trapped in help’, without necessary legal protection? Is there a danger of professional invasion, where diagnostic perspectives will dominate? These questions are discussed against international experiences on restorative justice reforms.

Keywords

juvenile justice reform legal protection panopticon society reduced imprisonment restorative justice

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Allen

(1993) Responding to youth crime in Norway: Suggestions for England and Wales. The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice 32(2): 99–113.

Andrews

Eide

(2019) Mellom hjelp og straff – fungerer nye straffereaksjoner for ungdommer etter intensjonen? [In between help and punishment – Do the new youth punishment regimes function as intended?]. NF- Report 2/2019. Bodø: Nordlandsforskning [Nordland Research Institute].

Balvig

Gunnlaugsson

Jerre

Tham

Kinnunen

(2015) The public sense of justice in Scandinavia: A study of attitudes towards punishments. European Journal of Criminology 12(3): 342–361.

Barker

(2012) Nordic exceptionalism revisited: Explaining the paradox of a Janus-faced penal regime. Theoretical Criminology 17(1): 5–25.

Barry

(2010) Youth transitions: From offending to desistance. Journal of Youth Studies 13(1): 121–136.

Barry

(2011) Explaining youth custody in Scotland. The new crisis of containment and convergence. The Howard Journal of Justice 50(2): 153–170.

Barry

(2015) On the cusp of recognition: Using critical theory to promote desistance among young offenders. Theoretical Criminology 20(1): 91–106.

Barry

Leonardsen

(2012) Inequality and Punitivism in late modern societies: Scandinavian exceptionalism revisited. European Journal of Probation 4(2): 46–61.

Bazemore

McLeod

(2002) Restorative conferencing and the future of diversion and informal social control. In: Weitekamp

EGM

Kerner

(eds) Restorative Justice. Devon: Willan Publishing, pp. 143–177.

10.

Bjørgo

(2016) Preventing Crime: A Holistic Approach. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

11.

Braithwaite

(n.d.) Restorative justice: Theories and worries. In: 123rd International senior seminar. Available at: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/24b3/fe47e8b82b815490107c7c0780df504597f1.pdf (accessed 6 January 2016).

12.

Christie

(1977) Conflict as property. The British Journal of Criminology 17(1): 1–15.

13.

Christie

(2014) Farvel til konfliktrådene [Farewell to the Mediation Councils]. Available at https://www.jus.uio.no/ikrs/tjenester/kunnskap/kriminalpolitikk/meninger/2014/farvel-til-konfliktradene.html (accessed 26 October 2017).

14.

Cunneen

Goldson

(2015) Restorative justice? A critical analysis. In: Goldson

Muncie

(eds) Youth Crime & Justice. London: SAGE, pp. 137–157.

15.

Daly

(2002) Mind the gap: Restorative justice in theory and practice. Available at: https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au/bitstream/handle/10072/567/kdpaper19.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y (accessed 29 November 2017).

16.

Davies

(2015) The Happiness Industry. London: Verso.

17.

Eide

Andrews

Strømsvik

Gustavsen

(2016) Stemmer ‘kartet’ med ‘terrenget’? [Does the map match the terrain?] (NF- report 7/2016). Bodø: Nordlandsforskning [Nordland Research Institute].

18.

Eliaerts

Dumortier

(2012) Restorative justice for children: In need of procedural safeguards and standards. In: Weitekamp

EGM

Kerner

(eds) Restorative Justice. Devon: Willan Publishing, pp. 204–224.

19.

Falck

(2011) Gir skremselsbilder av barne- og ungdomskriminalitet dårlige løsninger? In: Halvorsen

(ed.) Med Loven Mot Makta [Using the Law to Confront Power]. Oslo: NOVUS, pp. 256–276.

20.

Foucault

(1977) Discipline and Punish. The Birth of the Prison. New York: Vintage Books.

21.

Fukuyama

(1995) Trust: The Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity. New York: Free Press.

22.

Gibran

(1996) The Prophet. Hertfordshire: Wordsworth.

23.

Gillies

Edwards

Horsley

(2017) Challenging the Politics of Early Intervention: Who’s ‘Saving’ Children and Why? Bristol: The Policy Press.

24.

Goldson

(2000) Wither diversion? Interventionism and the New Youth Justice. In: Goldson

(ed.) The New Youth Justice. Dorset: Russell House Publishing, pp. 35–57.

25.

Goldson

(2015) Child criminalisation and the mistake of early intervention. Criminal Justice Matters 102: 27–28. Available at: https://www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/publications/cjm/article/child-criminalisation-and-mistake-early-intervention (accessed 29 November 2017).

26.

Goldson

Muncie

(2015) Youth Crime & Justice. Los Angeles: SAGE.

27.

Green

(2008) When Children Kill Children. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

28.

Haines

(1998) Some principled objections to a restorative justice approach to working with juvenile offenders. In: Walgrave

(ed.) Restorative Justice for Juveniles: Potentialities, Risks and Problems for Research. Leuven: Leuven University Press, pp. 93–113.

29.

Hamai

Ellis

(2008) Genbatsuka: Growing penal populism and the changing role of public prosecutors in Japan. Japanese Journal of Sociological Criminology 33: 67–91.

30.

Holmboe

(2014) Ungdomsstraff og ungdomsoppfølging [Youth punishment and youth supervision]. Tidsskrift for Strafferett 4: 398–415.

31.

Holmboe

(2016) Fengsel eller frihet [Prison or Freedom]. Oslo: Gyldendal.

32.

Holmboe

(2017) Norwegian youth punishment – Opportunity or trap? Bergen Journal of Criminal Law and Criminal Justice 5(1): 37–58.

33.

Holmboe

(2018) The Norwegian youth sentence: Punishment in the best interest of the child? Federal Sentencing Reporter 31(1): 28–36.

34.

Holmboe

(2019) Ungdomsstraff og ungdomsoppfølging: Juridiske vurderinger og forslag til lovendringer. In: Andrews

Eide

(eds) Mellom hjelp og straff – fungerer nye straffereaksjoner for ungdommer etter intensjonen? [In between help and punishment – do the new youth punishment regimes function as intended?] (NF- report 2/2019). Bodø: Nordlandsforskning [Nordland Research Institute].

35.

Iversen

(2013) En kritikk av ungdomsstraffen [A critique of The Youth Punishment]. Lov Og Rett 52(9): 630–639.

36.

Johnstone

Van Ness

(2007) The meaning of restorative justice. In: Johnstone

Van Ness

(eds) Handbook of Restorative Justice. Devon: Willan Publishing, pp. 5–24.

37.

Kilkelly

(2008) Youth courts and children’s rights: The Irish experience. Youth Justice 8(1): 39–56.

38.

Kristoffersen

Iversen

(2018) Samfunnsstraff – på tide med en revisjon [Community punishment – it’s time for revisions]. Tidsskrift for Strafferett 18(3): 151–180.

39.

KROM (2009) NOU 2008: 15. Barn og straff [Children and punishment] Statement. Available at: www.krom.no/aktuelt_more.php?id=128_0_32_0_C (accessed 21 April 2010).

40.

Leonardsen

(2012) Look to Norway – A Sobering challenge to a success story. In: Lararatta

(ed.) Social Welfare. IntechOpen, pp. 117–136.

41.

Leonardsen

(2015) Forebyggingens Historie [The History of Social Prevention Politics]. Oslo: NOVUS.

42.

Lid

(2015) Markant skifte i straff av ungdom [Significant change in youth punishment]. Samfunnsspeilet no 2. Available at: https://www.ssb.no/sosiale-forhold-og-kriminalitet/artikler-og-publikasjoner/markant-skifte-i-straff-av-ungdom (accessed 10 July 2016).

43.

Lindboe

(2014) Statement: Children’s situation within the penal system. Tidsskrift for Strafferett. no 4. Available at: https://www-idunn.no.ezproxy.inn.no/tidsskrift_for_strafferett/2014/04/ytring_barn_i_strafferettspleien (accessed 31 August 2016).

44.

Lynch

(2010) Restorative justice through a children’s rights lens. International Journal of Children’s Rights 18: 161–183.

45.

McLean

Wolfe

(2017) A sense of injustice loosens the moral bind of law. Criminal Justice and Behavior 43(1): 27–44.

46.

Matthews

(2005) The myth of punitiveness. Theoretical Criminology 30(2): 175–201.

47.

Ministry of Justice (2005–2006) Alternative straffereaksjoner overfor unge lovbrytarar [Alternative Punishment of Juvenile Delinquents] (White Paper no. 20). Available at: https://www.regjeringen.no/no/dokumenter/stmeld-nr-20-2005-2006-/id332074/?ch=1

48.

Mjaaland

(2017) Tvang Og Tvil [Compulsion and doubt]. Oslo: Kagge forlag.

49.

Moore

Mitchell

(2011) Theorising rights-based restorative justice: The Canadian context. International Journal of Children’s Rights 19: 81–105.

50.

Muncie

(2005) The globalization of crime control – The case of youth and juvenile justice. Theoretical Criminology 9(1): 35–64.

51.

Muncie

Goldson

(2006) Comparative Youth Justice. London: SAGE.

52.

Olaussen

(2010) Straffenivået og folks holdninger til straff [Level of sentencing and peoples’ attitudes towards punishment]. Available at: https://www.jus.uio.no/ikrs/forskning/prosjekter/holdningertilstraff/Rapporten_LPO.pdf (accessed 22 August 2016).

53.

Pawson

(2006) Evidence-based Policy. London: SAGE.

54.

Pratt

(2008) Scandinavian exceptionalism in an era of penal excess. British Journal of Criminology 48(3): 275–292.

55.

Przybylski

(2008) What works? Effective recidivism reduction and risk-focused prevention programs. Available at: https://cdpsdocs.state.co.us/ccjj/Resources/Ref/WhatWorks2008.pdf (accessed 29 November 2017).

56.

Seppälä

Storgaard

(2014) Unge i det strafferettslige system [Juveniles in the criminal justice system]. Tidsskrift for Strafferett 4: 334–359.

57.

Shammas

(2014) The pains of freedom: Assessing the ambiguity of Scandinavian penal exceptionalism on Norway’s Prison Island. Punishment & Society 16(1): 104–123.

58.

Farrington

Welsh

Mackenzie

(2002) Evidence-based Crime Prevention. Abingdon: Routledge.

59.

Stout

Dalby

Schraner

(2017) Measuring the impact of juvenile justice interventions: What helps and what matters? Youth Justice 17(3): 196–212.

60.

Thuen

(2002) I Foreldrenes Sted [Replacing the Parents]. Oslo: Pax.

61.

Ugelvik

Dullum

(2012) Penal Exceptionalism? Nordic Prison Policy and Practice. London: Routledge.

62.

UN (2007) United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, Convention on the Rights of the Child, General Comment no. 10 (2007). Geneva: UN.

63.

Waggoner

(2015) What can government talk tell us about punitiveness? The case of Norway post 22 July 2011. Criminology and Criminal Justice 15(2): 186–204.

64.

Weitekamp

EGM

Kerner

(eds) (2002) Restorative justice. Devon: Willan Publishing.

65.

Wilkinson

Pickett

(2010) The Spirit Level. London: Penguin Books.

66.

Winterdyk

Antonopoulos

Corrado

(2016) Reflections on Norway’s juvenile justice model: A comparative context. Crime Prevention and Community Safety 18(2): 105–121.