Victim-Offender Mediation by New Zealand Probation Officers: The Possibilities and the Reality

Source: (1995) Mediation Quarterly 12(3):249-262.

A study of victim-offender mediation in New Zealand collected information from 6 data sets. Generally, reparation was perceived as an appropriate sole sentence for an offender who had a very minor or no prior criminal history, who had committed a relatively minor property offense, and for whom there was some indication that the behavior was impulsive rather than planned. Police requests for reparation, as well as favorable comments by probation officers in presentence reports, affected imposition of the reparation sentence. In the first 3 months of 1988, 48% of the total amount due had been paid, and 58% of the offenders were in full compliance.