Crime Victim and Offender Mediation as a Social Work Strategy

Abstract

Juvenile offenders and their victims are brought together to discuss the offense/victimization and to negotiate a mutually satisfactory restitution plan. One hundred sixty-five offenders participated in the first 2 years. One hundred sixty-two victims were involved in the offenses and 54 percent (87) decided to meet their offenders. One hundred twenty-eight agreements were negotiated involving 99 offenders and 84 victims. Seventy-nine percent of the agreements were successfully closed. Crime victim and offender mediation will be useful for social workers; mediation provides an opportunity for both victims and offenders to participate actively in decision making and challenge stereotypes through a process of communication. From a policy perspective the practice provides a mechanism to respond to victim interest in participating in the justice system and provides a dispute settlement procedure to replace other responses to property offenders. A growing body of research indicates that mediation is feasible and acceptable to both victims and the general public and that the public supports replacing prison and jail with restitution, community service, and mediation as a response to property offenders.

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