Home      Login

Abstract: 

The development in Western criminal justice of the practice of offering victims an opportunity to meet with the offenders who harmed them began in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, in 1974. The early efforts involved juvenile offenders who had committed misdemeanors, and the meetings were initiated by the offenders’ probation officers as part of an effort to support offender rehabilitation. Those who facilitated dialogues between victims and offenders hoped that the combined impact of personalizing the consequences of the youths’ offenses and offering direct personal restitution would help deter them from further offending. Although participants reported satisfaction with the process, potential benefits for victims were of secondary importance and were rarely measured. Today, this early practice has blossomed into the most widely disseminated and documented, and most empirically grounded, expression of restorative justice. From its humble beginnings more than 30 years ago, there are now more than 300 victim-offender mediation (VOM) programs in the United States and at least an additional 1,200 throughout North America, Europe, and the South Pacific, as well as initiatives in Japan, South Africa, and locations in South America. These VOM programs work with juvenile and/or adult offenders, involving primarily property crimes and minor assaults, both misdemeanors and felonies.

Keywords: Community Corrections; Restorative Justice; Victim-Offender Mediation

Affiliations:  1: University of Minnesota School of Social Work; 2: University of Texas; 3: University of Minnesota Center for Restorative Justice Practices; 4: University of Minnesota Center for Restorative Justice Practices.