NCJ Number
118333
Date Published
1989
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This chapter describes one of the three court-based British Home Office-funded mediation/reparation programs, at Coventry, drawing on the program's experience and results as well as research material over the first 2 years of operation.
Abstract
The Coventry Reparation Scheme (CRS) began operating in September 1985 as an experimental, court-based project aimed at testing the value and practicability of victim/offender reparation and mediation. So as to present the image of a victim-oriented as well as offender-oriented program, the CRS was established independent of a major statutory agency. It operated under an independent management committee of representatives from all court user groups and the victim support scheme. This chapter describes the CRS's structure, aims, operation method, cases and outcomes, court-based referrals, victim and offender involvement in joint meetings, and the program's impact on recidivism. The chapter also reports on a survey of views of court-user groups, impact on sentencing, and victim/offender mediation and the mediator's role. CRS's experience regarding the few reparation compensation agreements has encouraged greater consideration of the therapeutic benefits of face-to-face meetings or indirect communication between victims and offenders. There have also been encouraging signs, albeit tentative, that the learning process afforded offenders may reduce recidivism. 1 table, 12 references.