피해자지원센터의 화해중재 프로그램에 대한 평가연구

A Research on Victim-Offender Reconciliation and Mediation Program of Victim Support Centers

This study is intended to analyze the problems of victim-offender reconciliation and mediation program based on an empirical investigation on the victim support center's activity and to suggest the solutions to these problems. For it, two questionnaire surveys were conducted for nationwide 51 victim support centers. One questionnaire survey was conducted for 51 centers and another questionnaire survey was conducted for 103 staffs who worked in each center's office. The following describes the summary of main results derived from the investigation. First, it was very urgent to improve environment for the reconciliation and mediation activity. Respondents answered that there was the lack of office space for the reconciliation and mediation activity, and the lack of professionals who would participate in the reconciliation and mediation program. Especially, out of committee members designated as the reconciliation and mediation professional, there is the considerable number of committee members who actually did not participate in the reconciliation and mediation activity. Accordingly, it is necessary to invite the various types' professionals who will actually participate in the reconciliation and mediation activity. Second, the considerable number of cases among the reconciliation and mediation cases of the center requested by the prosecution was inappropriate and unsuitable for the reconciliation and mediation program. The Public Prosecutor's Office must select the appropriate case for the center by considering the center's standpoint not its own perspective and must send the suitable case to the center. Also, the prosecution must enable the offender and victim to participate in the reconciliation and mediation program arbitrarily, not compulsorily, by explaining the purport of reconciliation and mediation to the offender and victim before requesting the center to do the reconciliation and mediation. The center must do the thorough post checkup about whether the agreement of reconciliation and mediation is well performed and the relationship of offender and victim is recovered. Third, it was found that the center workers generally gave the affirmative answer in evaluating the reconciliation and mediation's goal, process and results. They did very affirmative evaluation on the reconciliation and mediation activity's goal, but they did relatively less affirmative evaluation on the process and results. Accordingly, there must be the specific efforts and measures to reflect the principle and goal of reconciliation and mediation program on the actual activity process and results.