Benefits To The Victim
The victim is given the rare opportunity of confronting the offender. This face-to-face meeting in the presence of a trained volunteer mediator allows the victims to express feelings of frustration, hurt and anger and what they need to heal the wrong.
- Reduction of fears; questions answered
- Real voice in criminal justice system
- Opportunity to be a reconciler
- Opportunity to affect positively the life of the offender
Benefits To The Offender
The offender is held personally accountable by the reconciliation process and able to learn the human dimension of the crime.
- Realizes the consequences of action
- Participates in criminal justice system in a restorative way
- Expresses remorse; asks for forgiveness
- Makes amends to victim and community
Benefits To The Community
Community mediation particularly in neighbor disputes makes more sense than using the courts and is free of charge. Working in the schools teaching peer mediation, conflict resolution and anger management has helped significantly with behavior problems according to feedback.
Perhaps even more important, a reconciliation program in a community strengthens the teaching of nonviolent techniques to resolve conflicts. Everyone connected with the mediation process - the victim, offender, and mediator - usually leave the experience feeling moved by the empowerment that occurs through the mediation process. Righting the wrong in this way is the basis of the global trend toward Restorative Justice.
Mid South Mediation Services
Case Statistics 1/1/16 -- 3/31/16 Quarter
Lewis, Perry, Hickman, Williamson, Lawrence, Wayne & Giles Counties
TOTAL Referrals To Date from 2000: 3/31/16 Total: 9,427
| Adult | Referrals | Accepted | Completed | Contracts | Closed | No Con. | Declined | Pending |
| Lewis | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Perry | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Hickman | 20 | 20 | 15 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Williamson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wayne | 14 | 14 | 12 | 9 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| Lawrence | 29 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total (Quarter): | 66 | Restitution: | $2,868 | 0 hrs. | ||||
| Totals To Date: | 5,071 | Money: | $531,352 | Community Service: | 3,679 hrs. | |||
| Juveniles | Referrals | Accepted | Completed | Contracts | Closed | No Con. | Declined | Pending |
| Lewis | 17 | 17 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Perry | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Hickman | 22 | 22 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Wayne | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total (Quarter): | 39 | Restitution: | $0 | 320 hrs. | ||||
| Totals To Date: | 4,356 | Money: | $17,654 | Community Service: | 11,261 hrs. |
Quarter Totals Referrals: 105 Restitution: $2,838 Service Hours: 320 hrs.
Types of Charges: Adult Assault/Domestic: 41 Custody: 3 Theft/Bad Check: 13 Harass: 1 Family: 8 Civil: 0 (debt)
Types of Charges: Juvenile Vandalism: 0 Assault: 15 Substance Abuse: 6 Tobacco: 5 School (Truancy): 1 Harass: 5 Other: 1 Unruly: 6
|
Mediators: # of MS Volunteers Trained to Date: 360 # of Volunteer Mediator Hrs. to Date: 15,943 |
Mid South Mediation Services is in its 15th year of operation providing mediation and education services in seven counties of Middle Tennessee. We have processed over 9,400 referrals, of which 90-95% usually come to mediation and contract. We have collected over $550,000 in restitution and over 15,000 community service hours have been performed. Follow up evaluations with victims and offenders continue to yield overwhelming satisfaction with the mediation process and their contracts. The program mediates cases in seven counties. These mediations save the courts a lot of time and money in addition to helping restore people’s relationships in the communities served.