Victim/Offender Reconciliation Program - A Message to Correctional Reformers

• NCJ Number: 95596
• Journal: University of Toronto Law Journal Volume: 33 Issue: 3 Dated: (Summer 1983) Pages: 315-347
• Author(s): T Dittenhoffer; R V Ericson
• Date Published: 1983
• Length: 33 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Revised version of a paper presented to the American Society of Criminology, Toronto, November 1982.

Annotation

Although the Victim/Offender Reconciliation Program aims to provide a constructive alternative to incarceration in Ontario, its implementation departs substantially from program descriptions, resulting in only partial attainment of program goals.

Abstract

Based in a house intended to provide a comfortable setting for meetings between victims and offenders, the program entails negotiations in which the parties mutually determine the amount of harm done and acceptable compensation. Study data came from case reviews, discussions with the coordinator and full-time volunteer assistant at a program office, and structured interviews with judges, probation officers, and prosecutors. Data collection occurred during 1980. The majority of respondents favored the program because of its benefits for the victim, and most viewed the victim/offender meeting positively. Several competing interests surfaced, however, and apparently the program is destined to widen the net of social control, similar to many prior reforms which have enhanced the discretion of various officials. Nevertheless, the program's benefits to victims may far outweigh issues of alternative sanctions for offenders and expanded social control. Fifty-two footnotes are supplied.