Abstract

This qualitative art-informed case study explored a restorative conferencing media arts programme’s use of digital storytelling practices with justice-involved youth. Specifically, the author was interested in the role of producing a digital story and its accompanying artefacts’ ability to provide a concrete and reflective platform to engage participants in the restorative conferencing process. Data analysis revealed that participants’ use of photography, video and musical overlays in their digital stories promoted awareness and reflection of the restorative justice concepts. For justice-involved youth, the environment provided opportunities to understand and explore the construction and detypification of criminal identities to enable participants to develop personal and social responsibility. This study highlights how digital storytelling practices lend themselves to the need for restorative conferencing interventions to focus on participants’ accounts of the process by documenting participants’ journeys through the programme and examining the artefacts created.