Towards a constructive response to young offenders: Reparation at the levels of justice and individual psychology

This article discusses the concept of reparation with respect to young offenders from both a judicial and a psychoanalytic perspective, and seeks to find the point of contact between the two domains. Written from within the French judicial context, it argues that young offenders usually need both a response from society in the form of judicial intervention, but also a chance to 'make good' the wrong done. Without this there is a likelihood that distorted superego functioning in the young person will be exacerbated leading to an entrenched belief that the 'law of the talion' is the only conceivable form of response to aggression, in self or others. On the other hand reparation enables the possibility of forgiveness, increased self-worth and ultimately social inclusion rather than exclusion.