V.O.R.P.

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V.O.R.P.

• Victim-Offender Reconciliation Program
• For Rutherford County, Tennesse

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Tennessee Legislation in 1993

• The resolution of felony, misdemeanor and
  juvenile delinquent disputes can be costly and
  complex in a judicial setting where the parties
  involved are necessarily in an adversary posture
  and subject to formalized procedures and

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Tennessee Legislation in 1993

• Victim-offender mediation centers can meet the
  needs of Tennessee's citizens by providing forums
  in which persons may voluntarily participate in
  the resolution of disputes in an informal and
  less adversarial atmosphere.

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Tennessee Legislation in 1993

• It is the intent of the general assembly that
  V.O.R.P.
• Stimulate the establishment and use of
  victim-offender mediation centers to help meet
  the need for alternatives to the courts for the
  resolution of certain disputes

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Tennessee Legislation in 1993

• Encourage continuing community participation in
  the development, administration, and oversight of
  local programs designed to facilitate the
  informal resolution of disputes between and among
  members of the community

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Tennessee Legislation in 1993

• Offer structures for dispute resolution which may
  serve as models for centers in other communities
  and
• Serve a specific community or locale and resolve
  disputes that arise within that community or
  locale

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Conflict-Dispute Resolution

• One-to-one Negotiation
• Litigation
• Arbitration
• Mediation

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Negotiation?
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The Norm Adversarialism

• Outside rules govern outcomes
• Strict Rules determine availability of facts
• Disputants can reveal only strengths
• Disputants rely on positions bases on strengths
• Outside authorities make the decisions
• Resolutions are win-lose propositions

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See YOU in court !
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Mediation

• Small Beginnings

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What is Mediation?

• Mediation is voluntary (?)
• Mediation is non-adversarial
• There is no finding of truth
• Resolution is based on consensus
• Mediation is confidential
• Mediation is informal

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Mediation How is it different

• Disputants govern outcomes
• Disputants determine the rules of procedure
• Disputants can safely reveal all issues
• Disputants seek to understand and rely on
  interests, rather than positions
• Disputants make the ultimate decisions
• Resolutions can be win-win propositions

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Dispute Resolution Spectrum
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sine qua non of Mediation

• Self Determination by Empowerment
• Continuing relationships

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Judges, Counselors Mediators
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Why Mediation is Successful

• Mediator is trained to Empower
• Mediator is a Peacemaker
• Mediator builds Rapport with everyone
• Mediator looks for
• what the disputants want,
• not what the mediators thinks they deserve or need

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Restorative Justice

• A Mediation Approach

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Distributive Justice

• Does it need fixing?

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Problems with the Criminal Justice System

• Professionals do not possess the specific
  knowledge of the parties needs.
• Professionals necessarily operate within
  bureaucratic and procedural priorities that
  reflect the needs of the system.
• Professionals assume the ownership over responses
  and outcomes and force them on others.

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Problems with the Criminal Justice System

• The criminal justice system disempowers all
  parties
• The criminal justice system fails to acknowledge
  that crimes violate specific people

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A Reconceptualization

• Empowerment
• AParadigm of Justice

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Four Tenets of anEmpowerment Paradigm

• Reversal of Moral Disengagement
• Social and Moral Development
• Emotional Moral Psychological Healing
• Reintegrative Shaming

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Reversal of moral disengagement (1)

• When people harm others they tend to silence
  their conscience by moral disengagement
• Rationalization about good consequences that
  outweigh the bad ones, e.g., with this money
  Ill do good things.

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Reversal of moral disengagement (2)

• Obscuring or lessening personal responsibility,
  e.g., I played a very small role in the act, or
  others do it, so why cant I?
• Denial of the seriousness, e.g., they will never
  miss the goods, or they can get insurance money
  to replace them.

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Reversal of moral disengagement (3)

• Blaming or dehumanizing or otherwise derogating
  the victim, e.g.,
• foolish people they should not have left the
  window open, or Serves them right. They should
  not have

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Social and Moral Development

• Restorative justice meetings explore the personal
  aspects of why the crime is morally wrong,
  especially when the offenders friends and family
  express their views about the wrongful and
  harmful action of the offender.

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Emotional and Moral Psychological Healing

• Material Reparations Restitution and
  Compensation Agreements
• Symbolic Reparations Gestures and expressions of
  courtesy, respect, remorse and forgiveness.
• Key The Dialectics of the Offenders apology and
  Victims forgiveness.

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Reintegrative Shaming

• Shaming by relatives, friends and neighbors has a
  controlling effect on offenders.
• (Constructive shaming involves a distinction
  between what offenders did and who they are, with
  relatives, friends and neighbors condemning the
  act while accepting the person.)

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Two Basic Types of Mediation

• Narrow
• Broad

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Narrow Mediation

• Focuses on the immediate problem
• Focuses on the disputants POSITION
• Emphasizes strengths and weaknesses
• Authoritarian regimes overshadow the process

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Broad Mediation

• Helps disputants understand underlying issues
• Focuses on the disputants INTEREST
• Incorporates underlying issues in the settlement

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Two Types of Mediators

• Evaluator
• Facilitator / Peacemaker

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Mediator as Evaluator

• Assesses strengths and weaknesses
• Predicts outcome if no settlement is reached
• Proposes terms of settlement
• Urges pushes disputants to settlement

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Mediator as Facilitator / Peacemaker

• Helps disputants evaluate their positions
• Helps disputants understand common interests
• Provides safe area where problems can be explored
• Helps disputants develop solutions
• Asks about likely outcomes

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Two Basic Methods of Mediation

• Conference
• Caucus

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The Conference Method

• Disputants remain face-to-face
• The process is basically negotiation
• Mediator is like a parliamentarian

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The Caucus Format

• Disputants meet in a opening session
• Mediator meets separately and alternatively with
  each party
• Disputants can share weak points with mediator in
  confidence

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Four Phases of VOM Process

• Intake Phase
• Preparation for Mediation Phase
• Mediation Phase
• Follow-up

• Staff Responsibility
• Mediator
• Mediator
• Staff or Mediator

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Preparation For Mediation Phase

• Call or Meet with offender
• Listen to their story
• Explain mediation process
• Secure agreement to mediate
• Prepare for participation

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Preparation for Mediation Phase

• Call or Meet with Victim
• Listen to their story
• Explain mediation process
• Secure agreement to mediate
• Prepare victim for participation

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Preparation for Mediation Phase

• Arrange for an appropriate place to meet
• Schedule the mediation session
• Confirm all arrangements by mail

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The Mediation Session

• Goals and Procedures

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The Purpose of the Meeting

• To provide a restorative conflict resolution
  process that actively involves victim offender
  in repairing the emotional material harm caused
  by the offense.

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The Purpose of the Meeting

• To provide an opportunity for victim and offender
  to discuss the offense, get answers, express
  feeings, and gain a greater sense of closure.

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The Purpose of the Meeting

• To provide an opportunity for victim and offender
  to develop a plan that addresses the harm caused
  by the offense and ways to prevent it in the
  future.

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Mediation Session Procedure

• Introductions the more informal, the better
• Explanation of the purpose of the meeting
• Explain your role as mediator
• Explain the voluntary nature of mediation
• Explain that the court will have to approve any
  agreement

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Mediation Session Procedure

• Recognize the injustice/violation by asking for a
  discussion of what happened
• Move to a discussion of how people feel then and
  now
• Move to a discussion of how to restore equity

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Ending the Mediation Session

• Review what has been accomplished, regardless of
  what you think about what was or was not
  concluded.
• Reduce any appropriate agreements to writing.
• Congratulate all of the participants and discuss
  any follow-up.

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The Final Report

• Maintain copy of final agreement
• Have the evaluation form completed
• Return all case materials to the case manager

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16-20-103. Confidential and privileged documents
and communications.

• All memoranda, work notes or products, or case
  files of centers established under this chapter
  are confidential and privileged and are not
  subject to disclosure in any judicial or
  administrative proceeding unless the court or
  administrative tribunal determines that the
  materials were submitted by a participant to the
  center for the purpose of avoiding discovery of
  the material in a subsequent proceeding. Any
  communication relating to the subject matter of
  the resolution made during the resolution process
  by any participant, mediator, or any other person
  is a privileged communication and is not subject
  to disclosure in any judicial or administrative
  proceeding unless all parties to the
  communication waive the privilege. The foregoing
  privilege and limitation on evidentiary use does
  not apply to any communication of a threat that
  injury or damage may be inflicted on any person
  or on the property of a party to the dispute, to
  the extent the communication may be relevant
  evidence in a criminal matter. Such
  communications shall not be construed to be
  public records pursuant to title 10, chapter 7.

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16-20-105. Immunity from suit.

• (b) Employees and volunteers of a center are
  immune from suit in any civil action based on any
  proceedings or other official acts performed in
  their capacity as employees or volunteers, except
  in cases of willful or wanton misconduct.