Victim Offender Mediation and Dialogue

Victim offender mediation and dialogue is a process that provides interested victims of primarily property crimes and minor assaults the opportunity to meet the juvenile or adult offender in a safe and structured setting with the goal of holding the offender directly accountable for his or her behavior while providing important assistance and compensation to the victim. With the assistance of a trained mediator, the victim is able to let the offender know how the crime affected him or her, to receive answers to questions the victim may have, and to be directly involved in developing a restitution plan for the offender to be accountable for the losses the victim incurred. The offender is able to take direct responsibility for his or her behavior, to learn of the full impact of what he or she did, and to develop a plan for making amends to the person(s) he or she violated. Although there exist certain procedural differences and differences in terminology between implementing victim offender mediation in juvenile versus adult courts, the overall approach and procedure is quite similar in both settings.

Victim offender mediation programs were initially referred to as victim offender reconciliation programs (VORP) in the mid-1970s and 1980s. Some programs still go by the name of VORP. Today, most programs throughout the world identify themselves as victim offender mediation (VOM). In the United States some programs are also called victim offender meetings or victim offender conferences. In recent years, an increasing number of VOM programs are periodically working with cases involving severe violence, including homicide. This change requires advanced training and far more preparation of the parties over many months prior to ever meeting face to face. This entry, however, focuses on the most widespread application of VOM, in property crimes and minor assaults, in thousands of cases in numerous countries throughout the world.