IngentaConnect Victim and Offender Viewed from the Perspective of Mediation

Abstract:

The objective of this article is to show how victims and perpetrators are constructed within the context of mediation, and how these constructions both affect and are affected by the crime policy discourse. Mediation involves victim and offender meeting and talking about the crime, and coming to an agreement as to how the offender is to make amends to the victim in some way. The data are comprised of written and oral descriptions of the target groups for mediation, and of quantitative data on the victims and perpetrators who usually comprise the parties in mediation cases in Sweden and Norway. The offenders regarded as suitable for, and who also tend to participate in mediation, comprise a category of individuals usually referred to as young firsttime offenders. Thus, when offenders deemed suitable for mediation are described, they are primarily characterised by reference to their age, the seriousness of the offence and the number of offences committed. The crime victims deemed suitable for mediation are chosen on the basis of whom the offence was committed by, rather than by reference to the victim's age and/or how many time they have been exposed to crime: If the offence was committed by children or youths and was not of a type deemed too serious, then those victimised by the offence are regarded as suitable victims for mediation.

Keywords: Crime; mediation; offenders; victims

Document Type: Research article

DOI: 10.1080/14043850310011207

Affiliations: 1: Department of Criminology Stockholm University Sweden

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