A Story of Victim Offender Mediation

Source: (2002) Restorative Justice Week 2002 Resource Kit. Ottawa, Ontario: Restorative Justice and Dispute Resolution Branch, Correctional Services Canada.

This paper is a resource to help others reflect on two aspects of victim offender mediation (VOM): (a) what constitutes success in VOM; and (b) what a mediator can do to facilitate a positive outcome from VOM. With respect to these two matters, Robyn Jacobson shares a story from her experiences as a volunteer mediator with Conflict Mediation Services of Downsview (CMS-D) in Ontario. The story involves an altercation between students attending a local high school hockey game. Jacobson describes the incident; the responses of the school, police, and courts; the roles of the victim and the accused youth; the mediation between the victim and the offender and their family members; and the outcomes from the mediation.