The efectiveness of victim-offender mediation (VOM) in juvenile recidivism

Abstract

Victim offender mediation is a type of extrajudicial measure, with high educational content, from which very positive results fo r both parts can be extracted. Many studies have been done pointing out the educational value of this measure, but very few have focused on its real impact on recidivism. So, in order to see the effectiveness of this measure i n j uvenile recidivism this study was carried out. Participants in this research were 106 juveniles (aged 14.05 - 18.04) with a criminal record in the Juvenile Court of Castellon, Spain . The Youth Level of Service/ Case Management Inve ntory (YLS/CMI) was administered to the juveniles and in the follow up period of two years recidivism was recorded. Results showed that the type of measure was not significant in order to predict recidivism, but the risk score in the minor ́ s life was.