Restorative Justice on Trial: Pitfalls and Potentials of Victim-Offender Mediation ― International Research Perspectives ― (Nato Science Series D:, 64)

"Victim-offender mediation schemes have experienced significant growth in the last decade. They are seen as an important and innovative alternative to the traditional sanctions of the criminal justice system. After a critical look at mediation schemes in the United States and Canada, most European countries have also increased their efforts to develop informal strategies to deal with deviant behavior. In terms of their legal and organizational base, it turns out that type, extent, and capacities for development are quite different in the individual countries -resulting in a remarkable diversity of programs with different outcomes. The contributions in this book are revised and edited versions of papers presented at the NATO Advanced Research Workshop Conflict, Crime and Reconciliation: The Organization of Welfare Intervention in the Field of Restitutive Justice in April 1991 at Il Ciocco, Italy. The chapters document the present stage of restorative justice in the individual countries, critically assess legal constraints and public needs, discuss the organizational requirements of implementation, and also evaluate outcomes in a broader context of crime and social policy. In the long run, this book should encourage further debates in the field of restorative justice and help build valid guidelines for an international evaluation research"--Font no determinada Front Matter....Pages i-xi Restorative Justice: Steps on the Way Toward a Good Idea....Pages 1-12 Front Matter....Pages 13-13 Restorative Justice on Trial in Britain....Pages 15-28 Implementation and Acceptance of Victim-Offender Mediation Programs in the Federal Republic of Germany: A Survey of Criminal Justice Institutions....Pages 29-54 The New Zealand Experience Implementing the Reparation Sentence....Pages 55-79 Can Restitution Serve as a Reasonable Alternative to Imprisonment? An Assessment of the Situation in the USA....Pages 81-103 Victim-Offender Mediation: Japanese and American Comparisons....Pages 105-130 The Norwegian Community Mediation Centers at a Crossroads....Pages 131-136 The Process of Mediation in Finland: A Special Reference to the Question “How to get Cases for Mediation?”....Pages 137-147 Same Programmes, Different Outcomes: The Use of English Alternative Practices for Juveniles in the Netherlands....Pages 149-162 The Austrian Juvenile Justice Act 1988. A New Practice and New Problems....Pages 163-178 Penal and Community Mediation: The Case of France....Pages 179-195 Reparation, Mediation and Scottish Criminal Justice....Pages 197-210 Victim-Offender Reconciliation — Program and Outcomes....Pages 211-224 Mediation and Reconciliation Models in Italian Legal Experience....Pages 225-238 A Review of Research Dealing with Views on Financial Restitution....Pages 239-276 Front Matter....Pages 277-277 Diversion and Juvenile Justice: Can We Ever Get It Right?....Pages 279-290 A Survey on Public Acceptance of Restitution as an Alternative to Incarceration for Property Offenders in Hennepin County, Minnesota, U.S.A.....Pages 291-307 Victim Offender Reconciliation Schemes in the Greek Justice System....Pages 309-316 Morality, Symbolism, and Criminal Law: Chances and Limits of Mediation Programs....Pages 317-326 Reflections on the Role of the Media in the English Criminal Justice System....Pages 327-332 Front Matter....Pages 277-277 Mediation Involving Children in the U.S.: Legal and Ethical Conflicts. A Policy Discussion and Research Questions....Pages 333-342 Mediation and Community Service as Models of a Restorative Approach: Why Would it be Better? Explicating the Objectives as Criteria for Evaluation....Pages 343-353 The New Juvenile Penal Procedure Code and the Reparation-Reconciliation Process in Italy: A Chance for a Possible Change....Pages 355-363 Front Matter....Pages 365-365 Applying Restitutive Justice to Young Offenders: Observations from the United Kingdom....Pages 367-377 Minors and Deviance: The Role of Social Services and the Local Community....Pages 379-385 The Role of Probation in Restitution Procedures....Pages 387-395 Adult Probation in America: Its Role in Restorative Justice....Pages 397-407 Juvenile Delinquency in Turkey....Pages 409-415 Front Matter....Pages 417-417 Mediation — A Romantic Ideal or a Workable Alternative....Pages 419-429 Mediating Victim-Offender Conflict: From Single-Site to Multi-Site Analysis in the U.S.....Pages 431-444 Reparation in the UK: Dominant Themes and Neglected Themes....Pages 445-459 Communication in Decision-making About Diversion and Victim-Offender Mediation....Pages 461-474 Mediation in Divorce: Does the Process Match the Rhetoric?....Pages 475-490 Organizational Demands on Mediation Programs: Problems of Realization....Pages 491-500 Approaching Mediation in Juvenile Court: Rationale and Methodological Aspects....Pages 501-511 Waage Hannover E.V. — A Reconciliation and Restitution Program for Adult Offenders And Victims: The Concept for Practice and Research....Pages 513-521 Front Matter....Pages 523-523 Victim-Offender Mediation as a Step Towards a Restorative System of Justice....Pages 525-539 The Function of Forgiveness in the Criminal Justice System....Pages 541-550 Restitution, Reconciliation, Retribution: Identifying the Forms of Justice People Desire....Pages 551-557 Mediation Interventions and Restorative Justice: Responding to the Astructural Bias....Pages 559-567 Front Matter....Pages 523-523 Restitution and Ethics: An Aristotelian Approach....Pages 569-583 Back Matter....Pages 585-590

Victim-offender reconciliation schemes are viewed as an important and innovative alternative to the traditional measures of the criminal justice system. After a critical look at the United States, most European countries have also increased their efforts to develop important organizational base, it turns out that the type, extent, and capacities for development are quite different in the individual countries. The major objective of the present book is a critical examination of victim-offender mediation programs. Research findings are reported in the areas of: legal and public demands; organizational requirements and outcomes; the mediation process.
It is found that the implementation of victim-offender mediation depends to a great degree on particular context conditions. This applies not only to the special preferences of the institutions that encourage, support, or implement the programs. It appears, nevertheless, that mediation is acceptable to a variety of backers, and that it offers a viable alternative when considering reforms of the criminal justice system.
Despite their many successes, the mediation schemes are not without their failures and these are analyzed in context in order to provide a sign-post for the future development of such schemes. Guidelines for such developement are presented, with the aim of strengthening the preventive aspect of the schemes and increasing their utility to social and criminal policy.

Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Conflict, Crime, and Reconciliation: The Organization of Welfare Interventions in the Field of Restitutive Justice, Il Ciocco, Italy, April 8-12, 1991