"As the mother of a victim, Connors welcomed a chance to take part in VOD. 'Don't take my choice away,' she says. 'We [victims] are used to getting upset – our whole lives have been upset. But don't take away my choice to meet with the person who caused me harm.' "
Janet Connors is the mother of Joel Turner who was murdered in 2001. An article profiles the work of Jon Wilson with Victim Offender Dialogue, preparing both offenders and victims, sometimes taking months. Wilson has found that the current system does not serve well the interests of either the victims or the offender:
"This is the problem with our system: These guys can do their whole sentence without ever having to think or talk about their crime. We do not insist [that] that person think about what they have done."
Entire article at Christian Science Monitor.
