This title assesses the principles and practices of family group conferences in the juvenile justice and child protection systems. Family gr oup conferences originated in New Zealand in 1989 but are now found in a number of jurisdictions with current research being reported from Australia, New Zealand, England, Canada and the United States.;All the chapters emphasise the values which distinguish family group conferences from conventional mechanisms for making decisions about young people who are in need of care and protection of who commit offences. Critical questions about the practice and potential of family group conferences are also explored.