ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the position of the victims in hergo', the Flemish version of conferencing, a more detailed account of the results and discussion can be found in Vanfraechem. A hergo is a meeting between victim and offender, including support people of both, guided by a facilitator and possibly a co-facilitator. During the pilot project, the police were present in order to symbolically re-present society and a lawyer almost always attended to support the youngster. Hergo' is a conferencing programme implemented in the youth justice field, based on the New Zealand model of family-group conferencing. It focuses on serious crimes; it involves a facilitator and often a co-facilitator, the presence of the lawyer of the young offender, the police officer as symbolically representing society and support people for both victim and offender. Victims often come alone to a conference but might also bring along a partner or their parents.
