They were treated with kindness and acceptance. The offenders came to change their attitude and to abandon their criminal activities. Following this example, the program has proved a success and adopted by more than 175 centres in North America, Europe, Australia, Japan and New Zealand. Over time the program has become formalized. For referral to the program, the offender must have accepted responsibility for the crime.
Cases come from the crown, the courts, or probation.
They are referred to a community agency which provides mediation services. In many programs, violent acts against a person are excluded. Thus safety for the community is unlikely to be an issue and incarceration may be avoided. In the encounter the parties meet face to face with the mediator guiding the process. The victim has an opportunity to tell the offender the effect of the crime from the loss of particular personal items, or perhaps a feeling of violation.