St. Paul, MN: Center for Restorative Justice and Peacemaking. 25 minutes.

This 25-minute documentary uses clips from interviews with victims of three crimes -- burglary, home vandalism, and gang intimidation -- to demonstrate the impact and benefit of victim offender mediation. With commentary from Mark Umbreit, the film underscores the benefits of allowing victims and offenders a voice in responding to crime.

The documentary is divided into short segments made up of comments by the three victims related to particular topics. The first segment explores the emotional impact of crime and its aftermath on victims, and the questions this raises. For example, the burglary victim was frustrated with his experiences with the criminal justice system. He describes completing a one page form asking for information about value of items stolen and the insurance coverage. He felt this was not enought, and added a letter with options he felt would be appropriate for the young offenders. He shares the disappointment he felt when court personnel told him that the courts were interested in consistency instead of creativity. He relates the satisfaction he felt when restorative justice programme people called to tell him that his letter was creative.

Each of the victims interviewed had been left with many questions. Why would someone do this to me? Who would do this? All saw the victim offender mediation process as a way to get these questions answered and further to make a difference in the young offenders' lives.

Their descriptions of the actual mediation included words ranging from "frightening" to "beneficial". For one victim, the process offered her the opportunity to try to "turn the offender's life around". Another describes meeting the young offender and feeling strain at first as they actually met in a hallway on the way to the meeting room. She talks about feeling more comfortable sitting at the table looking at the offender. Her first impression of the young man was that he was a pleasant person. She describes how the structure of the process helped settle her nerves and guide the conversation. She is thankful that the mediators worked hard to help both her and the offender own and control the process.

For each victim interviewed, the process offered many benefits. One of the women describes it as a "heart dump" where she could explore and release the pent-up emotions she was harbouring. She explaines how she came to see that she had taken on the emotions of her family and friends as a way of trying to protect them, when that was creating an additional burden on her. Meeting with the offender, telling her story and hearing his story was a healing experience for her.

Another victim states that he could not think of any single element of the mediation that was the most important. Each step in the process helped him cope with the feelings and emotions of the crime. He describes mediation as a healing process for both victim and offender, but insists that restorative justice is not a soft option for offenders.

The documentary ends with a brief overview of victim satisfaction research done with victim offender mediation in the US. By using the words of victims themselves, Restorative Justice: Victim Empowerment though Mediation and Dialogue offers students of restorative justice a window into the power of such processes. It is available for purchase ($20 US) from the Center for Restorative Justice & Peacemaking, University of Minnesota, 105 Peters Hall, 1404 Gortner Ave., St. Paul, MN. 55108-6160. Phone: 1-612-624-4923. Fax: 1-612-625-8224, rjp@che.umn.edu.

Lynette Parker
December 2005