Finland
- Approach: Finland has drastically reduced the number of incarcerated juveniles by focusing on rehabilitation and restorative justice.2 The country emphasises alternatives to detention, such as immersive connection to specialist child social services, counselling and educational programs tailored to young children who have offended.
- Results: Juvenile crime has decreased and re-offending rates are low. Finland’s youth justice system works closely with schools and families to address the root causes of delinquency.
Germany
- Approach: Germany emphasises education and vocational training as alternatives to incarceration.3 Most juvenile offenders are given community-based sentences and imprisonment is seen as a last resort. Germany’s officers in care of children have prior contact with vulnerable children, receiving hundreds of hours of behavioural psychological studies.
- Results: Germany is still a substantive work in progress but has a juvenile justice system focused on reintegration into society. Juvenile detention rates are relatively low and those who do re-offend are offered a wide range of social supports to reduce further criminal behaviour.
New Zealand
- Approach: New Zealand has a long way to go but has adopted restorative justice practices for juveniles, where young offenders meet with their victims to understand the impact of their actions. This method seeks to repair harm rather than punish.4
- Results: The country has significantly reduced youth offending and reoffending rates, particularly through family-group conferences that involve offenders, families and victims in deciding appropriate responses.
Netherlands
- Approach: The Netherlands uses early intervention and prevention programs aimed at identifying at-risk youth.5 Young offenders often undergo rehabilitation in residential settings focused on treatment and education, rather than punishment.
- Results: The juvenile justice system emphasises keeping young offenders out of the formal court system, which has led to a decline in juvenile crime and reoffending rates.
Japan
- Approach: Japan relies heavily on family and community-based approaches to deal with juvenile crime.6 The legal system focuses on counselling, education and rehabilitation, while incarceration is rare.
- Results: The country has seen a steady decline in juvenile crime, with very low rates of re-offending. This success is attributed to the strong role of families, schools and social services in addressing delinquent behaviour early.
Norway
- Approach: Norway places a strong emphasis on rehabilitation and reintegration into society for juvenile offenders.7 Incarceration is viewed as a last resort, and the juvenile justice system focuses on education and vocational training.
- Results: Juvenile reoffending rates are low, and Norway’s overall approach has been widely regarded as effective in preventing young people from becoming repeat offenders. Norway’s success has led to on average only four to six children detained each year for serious offences and they too are immersed in social support so as not to reoffend.’
- 80% of Western Australia’s jailed children re-offend. 90% of Norway’s children who offend do not re-offend.
Scotland
- Approach: Scotland has pioneered the “whole system approach” to youth justice, focusing on diversion from prosecution, early and effective intervention, and intensive support for young people.8
- Results: Juvenile crime has decreased and re-offending rates are down. The use of detention for young offenders has also been reduced, focusing more on well-resourced community-based interventions.