NCJ Number
125993
Date Published
1990
Length
271 pages
Annotation
This report describes the first substantial research carried out in England on victim/offender mediation and reparation.
Abstract
Mediation is defined as the intervention of a third party to help two or more parties resolve their differences and reach a settlement. Reparation refers to the offender paying back the victim by material or nonmaterial means. There are currently over 70 Victim Offender Reconciliation Projects (VORP's) across North America. For the most part, such schemes intervene at the court stage of legal proceedings, sometimes between conviction and sentence. Victim/offender mediation in England, however, is in an early stage of development. There are no mediation schemes that divert disputes from the legal process, but a few community mediation projects obtain such referrals from other agencies or directly from the parties themselves. Projects in England most like the North American VORP's are referred to as court-based schemes. Most of these schemes presently operate between conviction and sentence. Other schemes that use victim/offender mediation are based on police-juvenile liaison panels. These panels are composed of representatives from several agencies, typically the police, probation, and social services. The panels review most cases involving juvenile offenders in order to decide whether to prosecute. Outcomes of victim/offender mediation are discussed, as well as mediation objectives and quality. Particular attention is paid to victim/offender benefits, dispute resolution, the compatibility of mediation with traditional criminal justice aims, social and legal implications of mediation, ethical considerations, and mediation costs. Case studies of victim/offender mediation are included throughout the text and in appendixes. 97 references, 11 tables, and 1 figure.