La influencia de la justicia restaurativa en la reinserción de adolescentes en conflicto con la ley penal en el Centro de Orientación Juvenil Virgilio Guerrero, Quito.

Abstract

Restorative justice and therapeutic justice require maintaining both proportionality and functional duality when applied to teenagers in conflict with criminal law at the Virgilio Guerrero Center for Young Offenders (CAI) in Quito. This approach aims to achieve true social reintegration for these teenagers by addressing both the damage caused by the offense and the internal causes that led the teenager to perpetrate it. Restorative justice involves the victim, the perpetrator, and the community to identify and repair the damage caused. Its central focus is not punishment, but rather addressing the needs of victims and promoting the active responsibility of the aggressors to repair the harm caused. The goal is for the teenager to understand the consequences of their actions and commit to changing their behavior. Therapeutic justice focuses on the emotional and psychological well-being of individuals affected by the legal system. It aims to make the justice process healing and transformative by addressing the underlying causes of criminal behavior, such as unresolved trauma or addiction, rehabilitation, re-education, and reframing the adolescent's experiences. This includes strengthening their self-esteem, developing resilience, and building a solid life plan free from criminal behavior. SNAI has approved the Comprehensive Restorative Care Model (MAIR), which governs intervention in CAIs, including Virgilio Guerrero. This model formally combines restorative and therapeutic approaches, focusing on adolescence as an individual and developing in three phases (Reception, Permanence, and Projection) through an Individual Measure Implementation Plan (PIAM). This plan articulates the intervention into five key components that reflect the restorative-therapeutic duality: Self-Recognition (Therapeutic), Emotional Bonds (Therapeutic/Restorative), Autonomy (Therapeutic), Restorative Capacity (Restorative), Life Project (Therapeutic/Restorative). The proportionality between restorative and therapeutic justice requires a balance where the adolescent not only repairs the damage caused to others but also receives the necessary support to heal their own wounds and address the causes of their behavior.