NCJ Number
172633
Date Published
1996
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This paper describes victim-offender reconciliation programs at five sites in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Abstract
Prison-based victim-offender reconciliation meetings are voluntary meetings held between victims and offenders in a penal setting. The format for victim-offender reconciliation includes face-to-face meetings mediated by a trained community volunteer, with the objectives of accountability for the offender and healing for both offender and victims. The major difference between community-based and prison-based victim-offender meetings is that prison meetings are not generally designed to reach agreements on restitution or community service. Rather, they focus on reparative aspects and explicitly exclude such offender benefits as early release and parole considerations. Prison-based programs also often include more detailed and expansive coverage of victim issues. It is common, for instance, that prior to the victim-offender meeting, these programs counsel offenders on the impact of the crime on victims. The programs examined in this paper differ from one another in several ways, including continuity, objectives, and origins. The paper includes discussions of operational issues and a review of relevant evaluation research. The author concludes the prison-based victim-offender reconciliation is a powerful and practical method of healing some of the harms done by violent as well as nonviolent crime. Hundreds of victim-offender reconciliation meetings have occurred without negative consequences, and they have been heralded by both victims and offenders as a successful forum in which victims gain an important measure of control over events they did not fully understand, and offenders learn what their offending has done to their victims. Nonetheless, the future of prison-based victim-offender reconciliation is unclear. Several recommendations are offered to support further prison use of victim-offender meetings. 16 references