Youth Justice, Restorative Justice and Gendered Violence — Oh My! The Rise and Rise of Offender ‘Accountability’ in Contemporary Penality

Abstract

The notion of offender ‘accountability’ has emerged as a key concept in contemporary penality in recent years, perhaps especially in the areas of youth justice, restorative justice, and gendered violence. However, the criminological literature offers few definitions of and little critical scholarly engagement with the meanings, aims and parameters of offender ‘accountability’. This comment begins to address this gap by drawing attention to this widely used but taken-for-granted concept and starting a critical conversation about offender ‘accountability’. After documenting its widespread acceptance, this comment charts some of the various meanings of the term implicit in the criminological canon. It also posits a series of questions that criminal justice scholars and professionals might consider in relation to the theoretical and practical application of offender ‘accountability’. It concludes with a brief consideration of future research questions.

Keywords:

• offender accountability
• youth justice
• restorative justice
• gendered violence
• circles of support and accountability