Restorative Justice: An Assessment of Victim Satisfaction with Victim-Offender Mediation

Source: (2003) M.A. thesis, Department of Law, Carleton University, Ottawa.

It has been suggested by many academics and practitioners alike that the treatment of victims by the criminal justice system is based on the neglect of their needs and rights. Victims’ experiences are often ignored with the criminal justice only looking at ways of dealing with the crime, which in turn neglects to deal with the conflict created by the crime. Conflicts that arise out of crime are traumatizing and aggravating for victims, and it has been voiced that acknowledgement of their needs must be recognized. It is this area of concern that has led these academics and practitioners to work to develop a more viable alternative means to achieving justice. This alternative is Restorative Justice. In utilizing a restorative approach, specifically a victim-offender mediation model, this thesis will demonstrate that in general the satisfaction levels of victims increase in comparison to dealing with the criminal justice process. Author’s abstract.