The Meaning of Reconciliation for Prisoners Serving Long Sentences.

Source: (2000) Contemporary Justice Review 4(1)

Prisoners who are serving long-term sentences face a unique challenge once they seek to reconcile with those whom they have harmed. This might be with the persons directly affected by an act of violence or the families and friends of the prisoner. There are few opportunities for prisoners to engage in victim-offender mediation programs while they are serving their sentences. Prisoners, therefore, must reach out to the extent possible to all those who are willing to reconcile in some way – the victim of the crime in question and those associated with the victim as well as family members and friends – so that the period of imprisonment can be a form of personal transformation as well as restorative community-building.