Mediation

Articles discussing the practice of victim offender mediation.

Empowered Victims & Moral Perpetrators: A Needs-Based Model of Reconciliation

from the entry by Christine Webb on Mediate.com: At a recent workshop at Leiden University on Obstacles and Catalysts for Peaceful Behavior, Nurit Shnabel presented exciting research distinguishing the needs of victims and perpetrators in interpersonal and intergroup conflicts. According to Shnabel and colleagues’ Needs-Based Model of Reconciliation, victims of conflict experience a psychological loss of status and honor, thus undermining their identities as powerful actors. Perpetrators, on the other hand, experience a psychological loss of social acceptance, thus threatening their identities as moral actors. Accordingly, victims and perpetrators are differentially motivated to restore these respective identities, and interactions that do so will increase their willingness to reconcile....

New Staffordshire crime-fighting partnership praised by Justice Secretary

from the article by Sonya Britton iin This Is Staffordshire On a visit to Staffordshire's new integrated crime-fighting hub, Justice Secretary Lord McNally met former offenders, victims of crime, and staff from police, probation and drug treatment agencies. And Lord McNally was impressed at the joint working shown by the 180° Integrated Offender Management partnership, which aims to help tackle the most challenging and prolific offenders in Staffordshire in an integrated way.

Review: Restorative justice in practice: Evaluating what works for victims and offenders.

by Eric Assur Three British criminology researchers and educators, affiliated with the University of Sheffield, have offered a very rich book on the use of victim-offender mediation programs (what they call schemes) in adult criminal justice venues in England. Most early Restorative Justice (RJ) writing has focused on juvenile justice programs, generally with a concentration on diversionary approaches for first time offenders. The Shapland, Robinson and Sorsby book looks exclusively and intensely at three ‘schemes’ and several hundred ‘cases’ involving adults. The criminal justice programs they studied were funded by the British Ministry of Justice – Home Office between 2001 and 2008. They worked with adults at arrest, while going through the courts and even with some while imprisoned. In a nutshell, this is a thought provoking book that has few significant weak points. This is not a primer on Restorative Justice. It assumes that readers are at least moderately informed about RJ. It belongs in the hands of North American justice administrators. While not designed as a textbook (no end of chapter discussion questions), it concludes with end notes and references that make it a useful reference for anyone seeking to look further into transformative justice and RJ, especially as found in the United Kingdom and Australia.

Letting victims define justice

from the article by Steve Sullivan for Restorative Justice Week 2011: ....There is a growing myth that for victims, justice requires tougher penalties. If only it was that simple. There is no evidence that punishment is as important to the majority of victims as some would have us believe. When asked in one study why they reported the crime, sexual assault victims listed punishment of the offender very low on their list of priorities.

Restorative justice in the community

from Melanie G. Snyder's blog entry: Michael was 16. He was an angry kid. He spent most of his days just “hanging out” around the neighborhood. One day, Michael was “hanging out” in a small Lancaster grocery store. While he was in the store, Michael pulled a cigarette lighter out of his pocket, lit the corners of a few boxes on the shelves and watched as the flames spread. Then he ran away. The fire caused $1500 worth of damage. Michael got caught, and he was sent to juvenile court. If we think about how the traditional criminal justice system would have most likely handled this, Michael would probably have been charged with arson (a felony), possibly charged as an adult, and likely would have been sent to juvenile detention or jail for some period of time. After coming out of detention or jail, having a felony record would have affected the rest of Michael’s life in numerous ways.

Bill Pelke's journey after violent crime

Bill, thank you so much for your words. For many who read them I am sure they are like balm to the soul. Over at [...]

Listening to crime victims:

Lisa, Thank you for your work on the 3rd Annual Restorative Justice Conference panel "Listening to Crime Victims: Their Journeys Toward Healing" that was sponsored [...]

Restorative Justice

Thanks for the great talk. Any info I could use in the juvenile justice class I teach to college students in criminal justice? Do you [...]

NPR: Victims confront offenders, face to face

from Laura Sullivan's interview with Sujatha Baliga on Talk of the Nation: BALIGA: Yes. And I said there's no chance. You know, this is not a case for restorative justice. The system is not amenable, particularly in your state. And I can't tell too many details, because we're still finishing things up with that case right now. It's not quite a done deal yet. But we're close. And the mother of this young man was so persistent and told me that she had actually been meeting with the girl's parents. She and her husband were meeting with the girl's parents, and that the girl's parents actually were the one interested in restorative justice. And she said, Can I give them your information? I said I'd be happy to talk to them and tell you the same thing I'm telling you, which is that this is not happening. (SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)

healing & restorative justice for victims

Jennifer, I appreciate your comments. For those reading this blog you might remember that I have written a blog article or two on Jennifer Bishop [...]

The Power of RJ dialogues in severe violence cases

As Lisa stated in her summary of the Round Table at the RJ conference in North Carolina, victims voices can be powerful advocates for the [...]

Is Healing the Right Word?

Congrats to all involved in this very meaningful conversation and opportunity, and thanks to Lisa for telling us all about it. As always, I love [...]

Russ Turner's story--victims choose to meet their offenders

I was pleased to see Russ Turner's post here. Again, victims of violent crime are seeking ways to have a dialogue with their offenders. It [...]

Meeting face to face

I echo the thoughts above. I met with the young man serving 17 Years to Life for the death of my oldest son Jeremy. Our [...]

Excellent summary

Thank you for the powerful summary of your experience working with these four victims. As you so elegantly put it, we need to shine a [...]

Excellent reminder of the power of victims' voices for RJ

Lisa - this is an EXCELLENT write-up about the power of victims' voices and a great reminder of the importance of providing forums for their [...]

Listening to crime victims: North Carolina restorative justice conference

by Lisa Rea When crime victims speak about the effect violent crime has had on their lives you have to listen. On June 9th I moderated a crime victims roundtable during the 3rd Annual Restorative Justice Conference in Raleigh, North Carolina coordinated this year by Campbell University Law School. The roundtable called "Listening to Crime Victims: Their Journeys Toward Healing" was sponsored by the Journey of Hope: From Violence to Healing. The four victims of violence who told their stories were Bill Pelke, chair, Journey of Hope: From Violence to Healing (Alaska), Stephen Watt, Stephen Watt Ministries (Wyoming) , Bess Klassen-Landis, musician and teacher (Vermont), and Kim Book, executive director, Victims Voices Heard (Delaware). No matter how many crime victims panels I have moderated the stories are always riveting and often what I hear the victims say is new even when I am familiar with the stories. I learn something new as the victims move along in their lives---their own personal journeys.

Restorative justice aims to reduce relapsing

from Elaine Attard's article in Malta Independent Online: ....The new Bill will see the creation of a new section within the Probation Services. Its functions would be to draw up a victims’ charter, approved by the ministry, to establish the criteria for mediators’ appointment and to promote mediation between the victims and offenders. The minister described this move as an ambitious one towards empowering victims and to give them the attention they deserve in the restorative process. Mediation helps victims understand why offences were perpetrated while the offender can take the responsibility of his or her offence.

Restorative Justice Dialogue: An essential guide for research and practice

Restorative Justice Dialogue: An essential guide for research and practice. Mark Umbreit and Marilyn Peterson Armour (2010). New York: Springer Publishing Co. 339 pages.

Restorative Justice Conferencing: The key for victims is in one question.

from Kris Miner's entry on Restorative Justice and Circles: One area of Restorative Justice Professionalism I focus on, is remembering ALL victims. Some victims do not get a victim-witness worker through the prosecutor’s office. The list of Victims Rights for Wisconsin is very court-room, criminal justice system process orientated. That’s good, victims need support and help navigating that. What I do is restorative justice, and in striving to do that well for all victims I have experienced a conferencing question that is KEY.