What If Victims Refuse to Meet With Offenders?
Victims who prefer not to meet with offenders will be asked if they would consider nominating friends or relatives to meet with them on their behalf. These nominated representatives would express the nature and severity of the harm caused by the crime, and participate in the discussion of what the offender should do to repair the harm. If the victim prefers not to nominate anyone they know to serve as a representative to an RJ conference, the JRC will ask other people directly connected to the crime to attend an RJ conference if the case is selected for one as part of the field test design. These people may include police and medical staff who attended to the victims in the aftermath of the crime. Ambulance workers, responding police officers, or investigating officers may all attend a victim-absent conference. This design will insure that all offenders who are willing to participate in the JRC field tests will have a 50 percent probability of being able to attend an RJ conference.
