The Handbook of Victim Offender Mediation: An Essential Guide toPractice and Research

Mark S. Umbreit. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 2001. 425 pp. HardbackUS$53.95, ISBN 0-7879-5491-8

Mark Umbreit has experience as a practitioner, trainer and researcher, and theHandbook of Victim Offender Mediation reflects this breadth. After an outline ofthe restorative justice concept, Umbreit places it in the context of conven-tional criminal justice and of social conditions generally. The practical sec-tions of the book include checklists of points to consider when setting up andrunning a victim/offender mediation service, and ‘do’s and don’ts’ which makethe reader feel that the author speaks from hands-on experience. Some mater-ial has appeared before, but it is useful to have it in one volume that is welldesigned and a pleasure to read – but a paperback edition would be welcome.

His model is described as ‘victim-sensitive mediation and dialogue withoffenders’, and emphasizes that the process, the dialogue, is at least as impor-tant as any agreement that the victim and offender may reach. Almost everysentence in these chapters makes a point which managers of mediation ser-vices and trainers of mediators would do well to include in their planning ortheir training programmes. There are, for example, tips on contacting partici-pants, preparing them for a meeting, confidentiality, arranging the room for amediation session, debriefing and follow-up, and there is a separate chapter onmulticultural sensitivity. Much of this relates to work with juveniles, and withrelatively minor offences, but Umbreit points out that the process is at least asvaluable in cases of severe violence, and is increasingly being requested evenby relatives of homicide victims.

A national survey of V/OM in the USA gives facts and figures, but alsoreviews critically the diverse procedures used in the 289 programmes.Research findings from 40 studies are summarized, giving data that may beuseful in drawing up funding proposals. More detailed studies are reportedfrom the USA, Canada and England. The book focuses on V/OM, but recom-mends the development of other models such as conferencing.

The main text concludes with the opportunities and threats facing restora-tive justice. There are six useful appendices, including ‘promising practicesand innovations’ that Umbreit has culled from various V/OM services, and agood index.

Martin Wright Mediation UK

[Reproduced with permission from RJ Online, a service of Prison FellowshipInternational’s Centre for Justice and Reconciliation: www.restorativejustice.org]

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