ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a brief history of the Victim-Offender Mediation (VOM) movement, describes in greater depth the variety of VOM programs currently operating, and explains VOM's relationship to the broader "victims' rights" movement. It argues that the coupling of mediation with the criminal justice system creates an unacceptably coercive context for the parties' decision to take part in mediation and for the mediation itself. The chapter also argues that as a structured VOM disserves the interests of victims, offenders, and the state. It provides some descriptive background on VOM and one influential type of victim-offender mediation called Victim-Offender Reconciliation Programs (VORP). VOM claims to rely instead upon "community values" as intuited by the victim, the offender, and a volunteer mediator—"a self-selected group of individuals who do not necessarily represent the norms of the community". The chapter concludes by recommending a decoupling of mediation and the criminal justice system that will reduce the potential for unfair processes and results.
