Glossary

Action Plan Order
Introduced under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 the Action Plan Order is designed to provide an individually tailored intensive response to offending behaviour. They may last for up to three months. The young person is required to comply with an action plan, and they is supervised by a Youth Offending Team. Action plan orders usually include a requirement for reparation following contact with the victim where possible

Affective Statements
Statements that convey the feelings of the person(s) affected by a particular incident/ misbehaviour, to the person(s) causing the harm. For example ‘(Name)… that really upsets me when you act like that.'

Affective Questions
Questions that encourage the person causing the harm to think about their actions and the people that have been affected by them. For example ‘How do you think (Name) feels when you do that?'

ABC (Anti-Social Behaviour Contract)
A voluntary written agreement between a person who has been involved in anti-social behaviour and one or more local agencies whose role it is to prevent such behaviour (e.g. police and housing). The contract specifies a list of anti-social acts in which the person has been involved and which they agree not to continue. Where possible the individual should be involved in drawing up the contract. The contract, unlike an ASBO(Anti-Social Behaviour order), is not legally binding. ABCs are most commonly used for young people but may also be used for adults (see also Home Office website) .

ASBO (Anti-Social Behaviour Order)
A civil order made by the court, containing conditions prohibiting the person on the order from specific anti-social acts or entering defined areas. The order is effective for a minimum of two years and can be applied by local authorities, police forces and registered social landlords, but not members of the public. The civil status of ASBOs means hearsay and professional witness evidence can be heard in ASBO applications. Breach of an order is a criminal offence, which is arrestable and recordable (See also Home Office website)

Circle Meetings / Circle Time
A process which encourages the use of many restorative skills and values – mutual respect, empathy, active listening, impartiality, non-judgemental acceptance of difference and win-win problem solving.
Circle meetings can be used with young people to begin a lesson, as a morning meeting, to close the day or at anytime. They can be used for team building, developing emotional literacy, celebration, planning new projects, as well as dealing with behavioural issues and conflicts.

They can be used by staff teams (whole staff as well as smaller groupings like departments and faculties) to build trust and communication and a sense of shared purpose.

The process begins by sitting in a circle (preferably on chairs of the same height, in an airy room where there will be no interruptions) and passing a ‘talking piece’. Only when holding the ‘talking piece’ can a person speak if they choose to do so. Team-building circles can also involve games, pair and small group activities and creative work.

More information on ‘circle time’ and its uses can be found at:
www.transformingconflict.co.uk,
www.bcrjp.org/forms.html#school_init

Community conferencing
A meeting involving members of a community who come together to resolve a conflict facilitated by an impartial third party in a safe and positive way.

Compensation
In the UK victims of violent crime, or bereaved relatives of someone who has died as a result of criminal injuries, can apply for compensation under the state-funded Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme (CICS).   Compensation can be ordered by a court as part of a sentence. More information.

Conferencing
See Restorative Conferencing

Crime and Disorder Act
The Crime and Disorder Act set up the Youth Justice Board and introduced many new measures, including diversionary measures for police to use with young people involved in less serious offences. These included police Reprimands and Final Warnings. The latter are followed by a referral to the Youth Offending Team.

The Crime and Disorder Act also introduced new sentences managed by the Youth Offending Teams such as the Reparation Order and the Action Plan Order.

Facilitator
A fair and impartial third party whose role is to facilitate the participation of those causing harm and those affected by that harm in a way that best meets their needs.

Family Group Conference (FGC)
A group meeting/conference where extended family are invited to come together with the aim of resolving conflict or behaviour. It can involve social workers, education welfare officers etc.

There are two main forms of Family Group Conferencing, which were first introduced in New Zealand in 1989 and based on traditional Maori methods and later used in other countries, including the UK.

In the 'welfare' Family Group Conferencing, a young person is invited to attend with his or her extended family and other persons who have a significant place in his life; after the problems have been outlined and agencies have explained what resources are available, the family is allowed private time with no one else present to work out an action plan for the young person.

The 'youth justice' Family Group Confernce is similar, except that the victim is also invited to attend, with a supporter if desired, and the action plan often contains an element of reparation.

In New Zealand Family Group Conferences are available for all offences by juveniles except homicide; they are used in more serious cases, either in lieu of prosecution or at the pre-sentence stage; in the majority of cases the agreed plan is endorsed by the court.

Final Warning
See 'Warning'

Indirect mediation
This is where the offender and/or the victim do not wish to meet, the mediator / facilitator 'shuttles' between them to convey messages and often to reach agreement. This is also known as shuttle mediation.

Mediation
A face-to-face process where an impartial outside party helps two or more disputants work out how to resolve a conflict. Differs from Victim/Offender mediation in that:

‘…in a mediated dispute or conflict, parties are assumed to be on a level moral playing field, often with responsibilities that may need to be shared on all sides. While this sense of shared blame may be true in some criminal cases, in many it is not.' (Zehr. H, Little book of Restorative Justice, pp.9)