Danielle Sered’s book Until We Reckon: Violence, Mass Incarceration, and A Road to Repair emphasizes how key marks of restorative justice practices can be met through the five key elements of accountability. Sered writes:

    “Distinguishing accountability from punishment requires a rigorous understanding and shared definition of what accountability means. Accountability requires five key elements (1) acknowledging responsibility for one’s actions; (2) acknowledging the impact of one’s actions on others; (3) expressing genuine remorse; (4) taking actions to repair the harm to the degree possible and guided when feasible by the people harmed, or “doing sorry”; and (5) no longer committing similar harm. Each step has meaning and benefit for the responsible party, for the harmed party, and for the larger community and society.” (Sered 96)

The stakeholders concerned in Victim-Offender Mediation are the harmed and responsible parties. The mediation will emphasize an effort where they encounter each other with trained facilitators present who help guide a process of making right or “doing sorry”. These mediations focus on and will provide meaning for all parties involved, due to their emphasis on accountability verses punishment laid out by Sered above.

Below is a video of experiences had by those who have participated in Victim and Offender Dialogues within the Colorado Department of Corrections Victim and Offender Dialogue Program, which has cultivated similar experiences that we aim for through our Victim-Offender Mediation process.

As mentioned above, these mediations will be held in the presence of a trained facilitator. Facilitator training will occur in a similar fashion to that outlined and offered in the Insight Prison Project.

References:

Sered, Danielle. Until We Reckon: Violence, Mass Incarceration, and a Road to Repair. New York, NY: The New Press, 2019.