Victim-offender mediation
Victim-offender mediation is a restorative justice practice that seeks to repair the harm caused by criminal behavior by facilitating a dialogue between the victim and the offender. Unlike traditional retributive justice, which focuses on punishment, this approach emphasizes restoration and rehabilitation. Gaining traction in the United States in the 1990s, victim-offender mediation represents a shift toward community-based solutions for conflict resolution, often involving nonprofit organizations that coordinate the process. Trained mediators guide both parties through exchanges about their experiences and feelings related to the harm, aiming to reach a mutually agreeable resolution, which may include restitution and apologies.
This mediation process can occur instead of or in addition to formal legal proceedings and is applicable for various offense levels, including serious crimes. Research shows that participants in victim-offender mediation often report high levels of satisfaction and perceive the process as fair, leading to a greater sense of justice. Victims frequently experience reduced anxiety and feel more empowered within the justice system, while offenders benefit from lower recidivism rates. Overall, victim-offender mediation prioritizes the needs of the victim, promotes accountability for the offender, and fosters a deeper understanding of the impact of crime, suggesting a potential for broader implementation in criminal justice policies.
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Subject Terms
Victim-offender mediation
Definition: Facilitated meetings between offenders and victims of their crimes with the intent to discuss the effects and triggers of the harm and to provide options of developing an agreement to repair the harm
Significance: Part of the “new wave” of community justice decision-making practices known as restorative justice, victim-offender mediation emphasizes restoration and rehabilitation as opposed to traditional retributive justice system practices which highlight retribution and punishment.
Victim-offender mediation gained popularity in the United States during the 1990s, rising with the tide of the restorative justice movement, which sought alternatives to the conflict resolution practices of the (still dominant) retributive justice system. Sharing elements with other restorative practices, such as family group conferencing and circle sentencing, it appeals to community partnerships for crime control and crime prevention and represents a significant shift from the state governance of crime matters.
In 2016, victim-offender mediation programs were widespread across the United States and the world. In the United States they are most often conducted by nonprofit organizations, which receive referrals from courts and probation or parole officers. Mediators are trained volunteers or paid staff members who function as facilitators so that victim and offender may exchange their experiences of the harm, and if they are agreed, help them reach a final contract, which usually involves restitution (monetary or other) and apologies for the victim, and possibly some form of assistance to the offender aimed at circumventing future offenses. This may or may not be court enforceable.
Victim-offender mediation is used in place of formal adjudication or in addition to it, or as a condition of parole or probation. It is used with lower level, moderately serious, and serious offenses, including capital murder cases. With careful preparation of both parties, mediation can register great success, as illustrated by the high rates of satisfaction reported by victims and offenders, their perceptions of fairness with both the process and the outcome, and their reports that they would choose mediation over court proceedings in the future. In addition, victims who participate in mediation are far more likely to feel that the justice system has treated them fairly and have been found to enjoy reduced fear and anxiety, while there is significant evidence that mediation is positively related to lower rates of recidivism among offenders. These results indicate that wider public policy consideration should be given to increasing the availability of victim-offender mediation services, perhaps as a basic right for all victims and offenders.
Victim-offender mediation addresses aspects of social and criminal justice that are not built into the criminal justice system: It considers public safety beyond simple imprisonment, it makes victims central to decision making, and it makes offenders accountable while simultaneously allowing them to make amends and learn about the impact of their crime, thus increasing a sense of responsibility rather than inadequacy and rejection.
Bibliography
Dhami, Mandeep K. "Apology in Victim-Offender Mediation." Contemporary Justice Review 19.1 (2016): 31–42. Print.
Miethe, Terance D., and Robert F. Meier. Crime and Its Social Context: Toward an Integrated Theory of Offenders, Victims, and Situations. Albany: State U of New York P, 1994. Print.
Namuo, Clynton. "Victim Offender Mediation: When Divergent Paths and Destroyed Lives Come Together for Healing." Georgia State University Law Review 32.2 (2016): 577–602. Print.
Ravinsky, Laura. "Reducing Recidivism of Violent Offenders through Victim-Offender Mediation: A Fresh Start." Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution 17.3 (2016): 1019–44. Print.
Umbreit, Mark S. The Handbook of Victim Offender Mediation: An Essential Guide to Practice and Research. San Francisco: Jossey, 2001. Print.