Victim/Offender Dialogues

A Victim Offender Dialogue (VOD) is a victim-centered, offender-sensitive facilitated preparation and dialogue process typically involving a victim/survivor, their offender and a trained volunteer mediator.  The purpose is to provide those who have been victimized with an opportunity to have a structured, face-to-face meeting with their offender in a secure, safe environment in order to facilitate a healing process for all parties involved.

Restorative Justice
Restorative Justice is a philosophy and a social movement which provides an entirely different way of thinking about crime and victimization.  Our current retributive justice system focuses on punishment, regarding the state as the primary victim of criminal acts and casting victims and prisoners in passive roles. Restorative Justice, by contrast, focuses on healing and rehabilitation. It incorporates a strong human rights analysis that emphasizes the factors of race and class in the over-incarceration of people. It assumes that the persons most affected by crime should have the opportunity to become involved in resolving the conflict.  The goals of restoring losses, allowing prisoners to take responsibility for their actions, and helping victims move beyond their sense of vulnerability and achieve some measure of closure stand in sharp contrast to the conventional focus on past criminal behavior and increasing levels of punishment.