TY - CHAP

T1 - Victim Offender Mediation in the Danish Police

T2 - The Dancing and Wrestling of Organisation Culture and Programme Purpose

AU - Rasmussen, Katrine Barnekow

PY - 2024

Y1 - 2024

N2 - In this chapter, I discuss how the national Danish VOM programme is affected by its anchoring in the police. Compared to the Norwegian Mediation Service, which was the main source of inspiration for the Danish programme the number of completed Danish VOM meetings is relatively low and in the later years it has been declining. I discuss and problematize the status of the Danish programme in relation to the ideals for public administration – uniformity and predictability – to which the police must ideally adhere. According to my findings, rather than expressing the absence of public interest in VOM the relatively low number of completed cases can be ascribed to non-uniform practices of informing potential parties about the programme. Also, in my dataset the lack of uniformity and declining number of completed meetings is contrasted by a large commitment among the VOM personnel towards expanding and developing the VOM programme. Based on my findings, I argue that it is rather a relatively low management and political prioritisation of the VOM programme among many other police tasks, which makes the lack of uniformity possible. I further discuss which measures could be taken to increase the future capacity and use of the Danish VOM programme.

AB - In this chapter, I discuss how the national Danish VOM programme is affected by its anchoring in the police. Compared to the Norwegian Mediation Service, which was the main source of inspiration for the Danish programme the number of completed Danish VOM meetings is relatively low and in the later years it has been declining. I discuss and problematize the status of the Danish programme in relation to the ideals for public administration – uniformity and predictability – to which the police must ideally adhere. According to my findings, rather than expressing the absence of public interest in VOM the relatively low number of completed cases can be ascribed to non-uniform practices of informing potential parties about the programme. Also, in my dataset the lack of uniformity and declining number of completed meetings is contrasted by a large commitment among the VOM personnel towards expanding and developing the VOM programme. Based on my findings, I argue that it is rather a relatively low management and political prioritisation of the VOM programme among many other police tasks, which makes the lack of uniformity possible. I further discuss which measures could be taken to increase the future capacity and use of the Danish VOM programme.

M3 - Book chapter

SN - 9781032341200

BT - Restorative justice at a crossroads:

A2 - Maglione, Giuseppe

A2 - Marder, Ian

A2 - Pali, Brunilda

ER -