3.2 Martin & Zappavigna
J. R. Martin and M. Zappavigna. (2013). Youth Justice Conferencing: Ceremonial redress. International Journal of Law, Language & Discourse 3(2), 103-142.
Abstract: New South Wales Youth Justice Conferencing is a form of diversionary justice involving young offenders in a carefully structured meeting, ideally with their victim, a mediator, support persons, the arresting police officer and a police liaison officer (and a translator and an ethnic community liaison officer as required). During the course of our research we have been struck by the relative absence of the passion play of remorse, apology and forgiveness expected by conference designers and celebrated by its proponents. At the same time, both offenders and victims report relatively high rates of satisfaction with conferences. In this paper we address this puzzle, asking what it is that makes conferences a worthwhile experience for participants, and ultimately for the justice system. In doing so we focus on conferences as a form of ritual redress, drawing on recent work in anthropology (Lewis) and semiotics (Tann) on ceremony, iconography and affiliation.
Category: Volume 3
