“Family group conferencing for victims, offenders and communities.”

Source: (2000) In Mediation in Context, ed. Marian Liebmann, 140-154. With an introduction by Marian Liebmann. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

In this chapter, the authors focus on family group conferencing within criminal justice. As conferencing has spread to many countries, various models have emerged. Some view conferencing as a variation of victim-offender mediation; others view conferencing and mediation as basically distinct. Masters and Roberts suggest that conferencing and mediation can be close relations, especially when they are both grounded in restorative justice. To detail all of this, the authors discuss the roots of group conferencing in New Zealand, family group conferencing in relation to restorative justice, varieties of conferencing, and particular conferencing projects in the United Kingdom.