White Collar Crime

Restorative justice and white collar crime victims and perpetrators.

Editor. Sycamore Tree programme: ‘a journey for them all’

A community-based restorative justice programme that involves groups of crime victims meeting with groups of offenders is to be introduced to prisons in Palmerston North, Wanganui and Invercargill over the next six months. The Sycamore Tree programme, run by the Prison Fellowship of New Zealand, has been operating successfully at Hawke's Bay Prison for the last three years.'We've had glowing feedback from our participants,' says Jackie Katounas, who has been facilitating the programme in Hastings. The Department of Corrections is funding an extension of the programme into Manawatu Prison from August, Wanganui Prison from September, and Invercargill Prison from November. The voluntary programme involves groups of six inmates and six victims of unrelated crimes coming together for eight two-hour sessions. (excerpt)

Blomquist, Todd. Restorative Justice – Reflections on Dialogue

At the time of writing this reflection, Todd Blomquist was a resident of the Restorative Justice Unit at Grande Cache Institution, Alberta, Canada. Here he shares aspects of his personal journey into crime, as well his experiences in prison, particularly his exposure to restorative justice ideas and values through peacemaking circles at Grande Cache Institution. He credits these circles with his growing awareness of the impact of his crimes and his lifestyle decisions on himself and on others. He expresses the growth and hope he has gained from restorative justice ideas, the circles and peer support in the Restorative Justice Unit, and the welding career he is learning while incarcerated.

Umbreit, Mark S. The impact of victim offender mediation: A case study

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Umbreit, Mark S and Coates, Robert B and Roberts, A. Impact of victim offender mediation in Canada, England and the United States

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Buntix, Kristel. Mediation in Homicide Cases: Opportunities and Risks.

This brief article provides a brief overview of victim offender mediation in Belgium from early pilots in youth justice to the implementation of restorative justice programmes in Belgian prisons.

Murphy, Kristina and Harris, Nathan. Shaming, Shame and Recidivism: A Test of Reintegrative Shaming Theory in the White-Collar Crime Context.

Despite the popularity of reintegrative shaming theory in the field of criminology, only a small number of studies purporting to test it have been published to date. The aim of the present study, therefore, is to provide an empirical test of Braithwaite's (1989; Braithwaite and Braithwaite 2001) theory of reintegrative shaming in the white-collar crime context. The data on which the study is based came from survey data collected from a group of 652 tax offenders. Consistent with predictions, it was found that feelings of reintegration/stigmatization experienced during an enforcement event were related to reoffending behaviour. Those taxpayers who felt that their enforcement experience had been reintegrative in nature were less likely to report having evaded their taxes two years later. Consistent with Braithwaite and Braithwaite's (2001) hypotheses, shame-related emotions were also found to partially mediate the effect of reintegration on subsequent offending behaviour. Implications for the effective regulation of white-collar offenders are discussed. (author's abstract)

Courville, Sasha. Understanding NGO-Based Social and Environmental Regulatory Systems: Why We Need New Models of Accountability

"With the recent rise of NGO power in global civil society, the question "to whom are NGOs accountable?" has been a key topic for discussion. Two fatal flaws have characterized most of the ensuing analysis. The first is that all nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are generally lumped into one generic category, regardless of significant differences in function, scope, structure, constituency, and boundary. The second is that traditional state-based democratic and corporate-economic notions of accountability have been simply lifted from these contexts and applied to the NGO world. The NGOs and accountability debate is examined in the first and second sections of this chapter. In the third section, specific sub-set of international NGOs is introduced in order to narrow the discussion and allow for more detailed analysis later. That subset consists of the memebers of the International Social and Environmental Accreditation and Labelling (ISEAL) Alliance. In the fourth section, a few examples taken from the ISEAL Alliance and its members are used to put forward the argument that accountability regimes can evolve over time through pragmatic responses to pressures and demands as they arise, rather than solely as the outcome of pre-envisaged institutional design. The fifth section develops this further outlining how institutional "learning" can play an important role in the evolution of accountability regimes. Based on insights gained from examining the accountability mechanisms of the ISEAL Alliance members, the sixth section offers a conceptualization of accountability relationships based on the concept of differentiated accountability boundaries. The seventh and final section then outlines some thoughts on the limits to NGO accountability." (excerpt)

Parker, Lynette. Book Review: The Little Book of Restorative Justice for People in Prison

Restorative justice is often implemented in community settings. In this short book, Barb Toews discusses its application when the offender has been imprisoned.

Sider, Nancy Good. Peacebuilders Healing Trauma: The Journey from Victim to Survivor to Provider.

Using grounded theory methodology (Glaser’s building theory from a data base), this research examines how peacebuilders heal violent trauma they have personally endured, with the aim of identifying common themes in their journeys from victim to survivor to provider. Using an appreciative interview format (Cooperrider and Whitney) designed to acknowledge traumatic experiences with the equally important need to identify the source of resilience; the interviews with selected peacebuilders show how, beyond surviving the trauma, they transcend it, choosing a vocation of peacebuilding in violent conflicts while risking secondary traumatization and compassion fatigue. The eight peacebuilders in this study suffered and transcended catastrophic traumas such as kidnapping, terrorism, bombing, war and physical assault. They work in trauma healing centers, restorative justice, international mediation, and relief and development work around the globe, including El Salvador, Ghana, Northern Ireland, Kenya, Bosnia-Herzegovina, New Zealand, United States and India. (author’s abstract).

Denning, C. Holly. Hurricane Katrina, Environmental Racism & Restorative and Community Justice.

This article discusses how restorative justice principles and models can be utilized in times following a disaster, such as Hurricane Katrina. As society becomes more modernized, the said modernization creates certain risks—global warming, ant-Western fundamentalism, other natural, political, economic disasters due to society’s excessive comfort zones. When situations as these arise, restorative and community justice principles may provide the best solution. Particularly with survivors of Hurricane Katrina, problems will continue for months and years. This article is the author’s first step in researching the correlations between restorative justice and other fields, including sociology.

Ameh, Robert Kwame. Uncovering Truth: Ghana's National Reconciliation Commission Excavation of Past Human Rights Abuses

A key mandate of all truth and reconciliation commissions (TRCs) is to ascertain the truth about past injustices and to establish accurate records of violations and abuses. But truth has different connotations to diverse people and is often applied variously. So, how do TRCs uncover the truth surrounding a case of past human rights abuse? But what is truth? More specifically, how did Ghana's National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) ascertain the truth in the cases that came before it? These are the key questions addressed in this paper, which is based on interviews with members and key staff of NRC, analysis of parliamentary debates and media coverage of the reconciliation exercise, and a two-month observation of the NRC. The paper concludes that the specific yet flexible mandate of the NRC, the standard of proof adopted, the elaborate information management process, and the internal control mechanisms put in place favorably positioned the NRC to ascertain truth regarding the cases it deliberated. (author's abstract)

Alden, Chris and Parsons, Imogen and Porto, J Gomes. From Soldiers to Citizens: The Social, Economic and Political Reintegration of Unita Ex-Combatants

This study focused on the experiences of former combatants in Angola attempting to reintegrate into their communities. It asked several major questions: what contributes to or hinders reintegration? Without targeted support, how successful is the reintegration process for former combatants? How different is the reintegration experience of former combatants than the reintegration experience of internally-displaced persons? What is the relationship between identity and reintegration? And what does reintegration look like in the face of weak government support structures? Thus the study examined many aspects of the reintegration process for former combatants.

Frank, Cheryl. Missed Opportunities: The Role of Education, Health, and Social Development in Preventing Crime

This monograph assesses the policies, programmes and services provided by the Departments of Education, Health and Social Development, and explores the potential of these for impacting on social crime prevention in South Africa. This study is primarily a policy review that begins with a descriptive overview of crime prevention, and maps some of the central debates in crime prevention. This is followed by a description of intergovernmental relations and government financing of the services under review. The policies, activities and programmes of the Departments of Education, Health and Social Development are then explored individually. In this regard, an overview of each department’s key policies and priorities is provided, and this is followed by a discussion of that department’s programmes that relate to the issue of crime prevention. This discussion is followed by a chapter that deals with the issue of groups that could be specifically targeted for crime prevention, including those targeted by the departments under review, i.e. children, women, youth and older persons. The monograph concludes with a discussion and set of recommendations based on the preceding assessment. (excerpt)

Capito, Benjamin and Goredema, Charles and Fundira, Bothwell and Goba, Ray and Munyoro, Joseph and Banda, Jai. Confronting the Proceeds of Crime in Southern Africa: An Introspection

The six authors all address money-laundering in Southern Africa, with each author concentrating on a different country. Banda describes legislation in Malawi designed to fight money-laundering. Munyoro posits that there is still much work to do in Zambia and then considers what areas specifically need improvement. Fundira examines three scenarios that have particular application to Zimbabwe. Goredema reviews what South Africa has done to stop money-laundering and financing terrorism. Goba analyzes the state of money-laundering in Namibia. Capito explores what measures have been implemented in Mozambique.

Manozzi, Grazia. "Parallel Mediations:" Why Organised Crime Tends to "Mediate" Conflict and to Reject Institutional Victim-Offender Mediation

The article describes the phenomenon in Italy of mafia bosses organizing mediation conferences for warring parties at the behest of the police. It contrasts the differences in style between penal mediation and mafia style mediation and concludes with some of the implications for both types of mediation.

Crew, Benjamin Keith and Johnson, Sarah Emily. Do victim impact programs reduce recidivism for operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated? Findings from an outcomes evaluation.

In victim impact panels, persons convicted of driving while intoxicated are confronted by survivors of accidents caused by drunk drivers. The objective is to reduce the number of subsequent convictions by increasing empathy with victims and increasing awareness of the seriousness of the consequences of drinking and driving. Participation in a victim impact course was not found to consistently reduce reoffending in a sample of persons convicted of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated. More specifically, program participants were just as likely to reoffend as non-participants and sometimes more likely. (author's abstract)

Umbreit, Mark S. Victim-Offender Mediation With Violent Offenders: Implications for Modification of the VORP (Victim-Offender Reconciliation Program) Model

Initially begun in Kitchner, Ontario, in the mid-1970's and then introduced in the United States in 1978, Victim-Offender Reconciliation Programs (VORP's) are now operating or being developed in approximately 100 U.S. communities. In VORP's offenders and victims are brought face-to-face with a trained mediator to express feelings, answer questions, and negotiate restitution. VORP was designed for use with nonviolent property crimes involving a restitution obligation. The findings reported in this paper, however, indicate the VORP model is equally if not more appropriate for selected violent crimes. Drawing on a fundamental element of the model, that of promoting reconciliation and healing within a context of viewing crime as relational, consideration should be given to modifying the VORP model to encompass some victims and offenders involved in violent crime. This initiative should include appropriate training for the mediators who will be involved.

Burr, Richard. Litigating with victim impact testimony: the serendipity that has come from Payne v. Tennessee.

A lawyer experienced in representing accused individuals facing the death penalty, Richard Burr makes these two observations about victim impact testimony in capital cases: (a) it usually serves the prosecution’s goal of procuring a death sentence; and (b) it does little to address most of the needs of survivors of murder. At best, such testimony provides a momentary opportunity for survivors to voice their loss, thus being heard and felling less isolated. At worst, it exploits the immense pain suffered by survivors to serve as a lever to produce a death sentence. With all of this in mind, he considers the situation in the wake of Payne v. Tennessee (501 U.S. 808 [1991]), a case that made it virtually impossible for defense counsel to exclude or limit victim impact testimony. Now, he argues, defense lawyers must reach out to survivors with genuine compassion. They must learn from survivors which needs can be met within the criminal justice process; and they must do what they can do, consistent with representing the interests of their clients, to ensure that those needs are adequately addresses. Defense lawyers must work for respectful inclusion of survivors in the criminal justice process and not be complicit in exploiting and excluding them.

Anonymous. 'Profound Impact on Inmates'

This article introduces the Sycamore Tree community-based restorative justice programme of Prison Fellowship of New Zealand, which will be started at the Waikeria and Auckland prisons. The programme is organized by Christians and begins with offenders who volunteer to participate in the sessions. It has four objectives--reconciliation, reparation, transformation, and a reduction in reoffending--and can lead to prisoners dealing with other surrounding issues. The celebration meal also affords prison management personnel an opportunity to involve families and victims in rehabilitation.

van der Hoven, Anna. The value of victim impact statements in court

Victim impact statements constitute one of the ways in which victims of crime are participating more significantly in the criminal justice system in recent years. The purpose of a victim impact statement is to present the victim’s perspective to the sentencing authority as part of the sentencing process. In this paper, Anna van der Hoven discusses the status of victim impact statements in the South African criminal justice system. She writes that the use of such statements is still in its infancy and seldom are they submitted. To highlight the situation in South Africa as well as the value of impact statements, she summarizes a particular case in which she assisted a crime victim in preparing and presenting a victim impact statement.