Restorative justice, mediation and relational conflict resolution in work with young people in residential care

Conflict resolution approaches such as restorative justice and mediation are becoming increasingly important in policy and practice in work with children and young people, be this in relation to work with separating parents to minimise the difficulties and conflicts involved for their children, or in relation to youth justice. One of the main aims of such conflict resolution approaches in social work is to develop techniques and skills for workers and service users to enable them to deal with their conflicts and disputes in a more positive manner than is often currently the case. This article examines these approaches in family disputes and youth offending areas, and then develops these considerations further to examine the possibilities for extending restorative justice approaches within a relational conflict resolution approach for young people's residential units, and more widely in group care settings.