ABSTRACT
This chapter marks an endeavour to sketch a comprehensive picture of the Austrian restorative justice practice of victim offender mediation (VOM) and its importance and meaning for those that have been affected by the wrongdoing. It is an attempt to get at the real story' of restorative justice in Austria. This real story, according to Kathleen Daly, pertains to the empirical evidence that lies behind the rhetoric of VOM that usually emphasizes the preventive effects of the intervention. The background of the establishment of VOM as a diversionary measure within the Austrian criminal justice system is shaped by the notion of restoration as a third path' of doing criminal justice. Besides VOM, Neustart offers a wide range of social services that are related to the criminal justice system: probation, after-care, job counselling for former inmates. The offences dealt with in the Austrian VOM are almost exclusively violent offences.
