Mediated Victim-Offender Restitution Agreement: An Exploratory Analysis of Factors Related to Victim Participation (From Criminal Justice, Restitution, and Reconciliation, P 177-182, 1990, Burt Galaway and Joe Hudson, eds. -- See NCJ-126460)

• NCJ Number: 126475
• Author(s): J Gehm
• Date Published: 1990
• Length: 6 pages
• Sale Source: Criminal Justice Press/Willow Tree Press
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study analyzes data from six victim-offender reconciliation programs (VORP's) in Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Oregon to identify any correlates between offender and offense characteristics and the willingness of victims to participate in face-to-face meetings with their offenders.

Abstract

Multivariate analyses were conducted on variables hypothesized as related to whether or not victims participated in meetings with offenders to negotiate a restitution agreement. Independent variables were offender age, offense, prior convictions, prior incarcerations, offender race, offender sex, and type of victim. The most important finding was that victims were more likely to meet with their offender in a face-to-face meeting when their offender was white, when the offense was a misdemeanor, and when the victim was representing an institution (school, church, business, etc.) rather than an individual. Victims who did participate in the program stated that obtaining restitution was the primary reason. Apparently, for those who did not participate, the benefit of avoiding the possible psychological anxiety of meeting the offender outweighed the benefit of obtaining a restitution agreement. 4 tables, and 14 references