State of knowledge: Four decades of victim‐offender mediation research and practice: The evidence

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/crq.21234
• Date: 01 December 2018
• Published date: 01 December 2018
• Author: Mark Umbreit,Toran Hansen

RESEARCH ARTICLE

State of knowledge: Four decades of victim-offender

mediation research and practice: The evidence

Toran Hansen

1

|Mark Umbreit

2

1

Conflict Analysis and Dispute Resolution,

Salisbury University, Salisbury, Maryland

2

School of Social Work, University of Minnesota,

St. Paul, Minnesota

Correspondence

Toran Hansen, Conflict Analysis and Dispute

Resolution, Salisbury University, Holloway Hall,

Room 106, 1101 Camden Avenue, Salisbury, MD

21801-6860.

Email: tjhansen@salisbury.edu

This paper provides an overview of 40 years of victim-

offender mediation evaluation research. This research dem-

onstrates that victims and offenders are more satisfied with

the process and outcomes than with the courts, they are

more likely to draft and complete restitution agreements,

they derive psychosocial benefits , the process is less expen-

sive, crime victimsare more likely to receive apologies from

offenders, and offenders are less likely to recidivate. These

benefits are not necessarily uniformly distributed. This “first

wave”research provides a platform for the second wave,

currently underway. To contextualizethese findings, current

and future victim-offender mediationpractices are outlined.

1|INTRODUCTION

This paper considers empirical evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of victim-offender media-

tion, as well as some disparate impacts that the process may have on different types of victims and

offenders. The evidence provided parallels key findings that have emerged over the course of the

40-year career of Mark Umbreit, a restorative justice scholar and pioneer in victim-offender media-

tion (starting in the 1970s when it was known as the Victim-Offender Reconciliation Program), who

has considered the effectiveness of victim-offender mediation throughout his career. In order to estab-

lish the strength of this evidence, the practice of victim-offender mediation is briefly outlined. Empir-

ical evidence of the impacts of victim-offender mediation for victims, offenders, and society are then

detailed. These victim-offender mediation findings originate from what we have identified as the first

wave of restorative justice research, which has paved the way for the second wave of research just

now getting under way. The paper also considers some differential impacts and concerns that have

emerged in studies of victim-offender mediation, as well as some means that have been demonstrated

to mitigate those concerns. It is important to note that this analysis does not consider the process of

victim-offender mediation in cases of severe violence, such as in attempted homicide and murder

[Correction added on 12 September, 2018, after first online publication: “State of knowledge”was added to the title.]

Received: 5 March 2018Revised: 19 June 2018Accepted: 24 June 2018

DOI: 10.1002/crq.21234

© 2018 Association for Conflict Resolution and Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Conflict Resolution Quarterly. 2018;36:99–113.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/crq 99