How do you restore justice to a person who has been victimized by a crime? Is a jail sentence, fine, or restitution enough, or should there be something more? If so, what else is needed? Should there be recognition by the criminal of how their actions have affected a victim’s feelings of being safe? The answers to these questions lie in an innovative concept in mediation named Restorative Justice. A mediation program that brings perpetrators of crimes and their victims together with a trained professional, Restorative Justice is gaining acceptance and being utilized in many communities.

How does it work? Also called victim-offender mediation, it functions much as the mediation models developed for civil and family law cases. A trained professional, the mediator, meets with both parties. Often it begins with the victim stating how the crime has affected them, and what they need to feel safe and whole again. The victim of the crime has a chance to be heard. The offender then repeats back what the victim said, responds and is heard in turn. In this way, the offender hears firsthand how his or her behavior has affected someone. Next, all parties enter into the problem solving portion of the session in order to reach a resolution. This may involve an apology, financial restitution, personal or community service work, as well as a plan to prevent future occurrences.

Why utilize mediation this way? Restorative Justice views crime as a violation of human relations, against the community as a whole. By entering into mediation and hearing how crimes hurt people and communities, victims can heal, and relationships be repaired. By having offenders gain insight into how their actions affect others, it can help reduce recidivism (offenders repeating the same crimes over again). Reducing recidivism reduces costs to the community for housing criminals, trying criminals, and policing criminals. It is effective in most but not all cases, but any improvement in our criminal system benefits all people in our communities.

 Submitted by Barbara J. Ansted, attorney and currently the Sandusky and Ottawa County Family Mediator.