SGER: Violence and Family Group Conferencing in Australia and New Zealand

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9625493 Daly Funding is requested for some travel expenses in connection with research on an innovative criminal justice reform, family group or community accountability conference. Conferencing, which began in New Zealand in 1989 in handling juvenile crime, has since been introduced in Australia, Canada, and several states in the U.S. There are only a handful of studies assessing its merits. The researcher will observe conference proceedings at major sites in Australia and New Zealand, and conduct research for extended periods in an urban and outback Australian jurisdiction (Adelaide and Coober Pedy), where conferencing is used in cases of intimate violence (rape and domestic violence). The research questions are: Do imbalances of power arise in the conference? Are offenders affected by the conference to change their behavior? The exploratory nature of the research calls for the gathering of case studies, coupled with interviews. The aim is to learn as much as possible about conferencing -- how it works, how successful it is, its major implementation problems -- to develop some baseline information and to begin to assess its merits in comparison to traditional criminal justice responses to crime. %%%% Funding is requested for some travel expenses in connection with research on an innovative criminal justice reform, family group or community accountability conference. Conferencing, which began in New Zealand in 1989 in handling juvenile crime, has since been introduced in Australia, Canada, and several states in the U.S. There are only a handful of studies assessing its merits. The researcher will observe conference proceedings at major sites in Australia and New Zealand, and conduct research for extended periods in an urban and outback Australian jurisdiction (Adelaide and Coober Pedy), where conferencing is used in cases of intimate violence (rape and domestic violence). The research questions are: Do imbalances of power arise in the conference? Are offenders affected by the conference to change their behavior? The exploratory nature of the research calls for the gathering of case studies, coupled with interviews. The aim is to learn as much as possible about conferencing -- how it works, how successful it is, its major implementation problems -- to develop some baseline information and to begin to assess its merits in comparison to traditional criminal justice responses to crime. ****