ABSTRACT
I have already stated that the ®rst VORP was guided by religious beliefs that part of the response to a criminal offence should be to attempt reconciliation between the parties: the mending of ruptured relationships. While I have noted that it is dif®cult to evaluate the extent to which reconciliation has occurred between victims and offenders (Peachey 1989), much research has examined the reasons why victims and offenders participate, and what bene®ts and drawbacks are identi®ed by them. One of the ®rst empirical evaluations of the VORP model (Coates and Gehm 1989) found the main reasons why victims took part were:
· to recover their losses · to help offenders stay out of further trouble and · to participate meaningfully in the process.
