Source: (2002) Paper presented at “Dreaming of a New Reality,” the Third International Conference on Conferencing,
Circles and other Restorative Practices, August 8-10, 2002, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
This paper aims to introduce an innovative family group conferencing program that has been recently implemented in New South Wales and to explore the program’s potential to meet the needs and expectations of homicide survivors currently unmet by conventional criminal justice processes. The program is an overtly victim-oriented, communitarian model of restorative justice (Dignan and Cavadino (1996)) that operates on a post-conviction basis. There are no restrictions as to the nature of offences or offenders that may be the subject of a conference provided there is an identifiable victim. Using a case study of a recent conference involving a homicide, I will demonstrate the operation of the conferencing program and its application for homicide survivors. Author’s abstract
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