Victim-Offender Mediation Impact upon Youth Crime

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Victim-Offender MediationImpact upon Youth
Crime

• Presented by
• Betty Noreen, Mediation Advisor
• North Star Youth Mediation Program
• [phone], fax [phone]
• nsycmed_at_mosquitonet.com
• www.mosquitonet.com/nsyc/NSYMP/

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Agenda

• Victim-Offender Mediation
• Based on Restorative Justice Principles
• Characteristics and Benefits
• Stages
• Effect of VOM on Juvenile Offender Recidivism
• North Star Youth Mediation Program
• Questions and Comments

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Victim-Offender Mediation is Based upon
Restorative Justice Principles

• Offense is against people/community
• All parties are affected
• They take an active role in restoration
• Offenders are held directly accountable
• Repairs emotional and material harm
• Restores losses

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Restorative Justice Questions

• What is the harm?
• What needs to be done to repair the harm?
• Who is responsible for the repair?

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VOM Characteristics and Benefits

• Collaborative, not adversarial
• Empowers Victims
• Holds Offender accountable
• Guilt/Innocence is not an issue
• Victims questions are answered
• Promotes mutual understanding
• Develops mutually acceptable restitution plans
• Provides closure for both victim and offender

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VOM Stages

• Referral and Screening
• Pre-Mediation Meetings
• Mediation
• Follow Up
• Review
• Closure

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The Effect of Victim Offender Mediation on
Juvenile Offender Recidivism A Meta-Analysisby
Bradshaw, Roseborough UmbreitConflict
Resolution Quarterly, Vo. 24, No. 1, Fall 2006

• This article reports the results of a
  meta-analysis of the effects of victim offender
  mediation (VOM) on juvenile recidivism. Analyses
  were conducted on fifteen studies consisting of
  9,172 juveniles in twenty-one service sites in
  the United States. Participation in VOM
  accounted for a 34 percent reduction in juvenile
  recidivism.

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North Star Youth Mediation Program

• A program of North Star Youth Court in Fairbanks,
  Alaska
• Began in 2001 with Victim-Offender Mediation and
  Peer Mediation
• Parent-Teen Mediation added in 2005

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Program Characteristics

• Non-Profit Organization, 25 referral fee
• Co-facilitated by youth and adult mediators
• Provides basic and parent-teen mediation training
• Utilizes volunteer adult mediators
• Monthly Youth Mediator Corps meetings
• Develops youth leadership and competency
• Promotes community awareness of alternative
  conflict resolution and restorative justice
  options

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Program Goals

• To model good communication and conflict
  resolution skills with courtesy and respect.
• To demonstrate that conflict exists universally
  and can have positive outcomes.
• To teach the critical life-skill of how to
  resolve further conflict constructively.
• To identify and focus on the underlying needs
  expressed in actions or positions.
• To gain an understanding and appreciation of our
  differences and to identify similarities.
• To learn something new about the other person and
  develop empathy and closeness.
• To come to mutual agreement on how to resolve a
  conflict or repair a harm.

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Potential Referral Sources

• Victim-Offender Mediation
• Youth Court Sentencing Option
• Juvenile Probation Officers
• Superior Court Juvenile Disposition
• Alaska State Troopers/Police Officers
• Peer Mediation
• Schools Youth Programs
• Resource Agencies
• Private Individuals
• Parent-Teen Mediation
• Children and Family Service Agencies
• Private Individuals

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Questions????