Ms. Umbreit et Sl. Stacey, FAMILY GROUP CONFERENCING COMES TO THE US - A COMPARISON WITH VICTIM-OFFENDER MEDIATION, Juvenile & family court journal, 47(2), 1996, pp. 29-38
A boy hesitantly appears in the doorway to a meeting room. A large man
wearing a name tag greets him thoughtfully and points out where he sh
ould sit in the horseshoe of chairs in the room. The boy crosses the r
oom, picks his name fag up off the chair puts it on crookedly, and sit
s down. On his face apprehension alternates with bravado. As his mothe
r and sister done with hanging their coats, enter the room the boy beg
ins to fidget quietly. The large man greets them and points out their
places in the horseshoe of chairs; they find their name fags on their
chairs and sit down on either side of the boy. Other people that the b
oy and his family are close to appear in the doorway, are greeted and
move to their seats farther down the arch of the horseshoe: his grandf
ather and cousin, his basketball coach, his school social worker an el
derly neighbor and a member of his mother's church. Their faces, and t
hose of his mother and sister betray various emotions; grim calm, hope
fulness, solemnity, foreboding, sadness, and quiet interest. When they
are seated, the chairs on one side of the horseshoe arch are full. Th
e investigating officer enters, and sits at the apex of the arch. When
they are all seated, the large man leaves the room and comes back wit
h a group of people who have been waiting in a nearby room. The boy's
victim enters the room first; she is a small, white-haired woman who s
hakes a little as she crosses the room and sits in a chair directly ac
ross the horseshoe from the boy. The boy glances quickly at her and th
en looks down and away to avoid her eyes. On her face, anxiety is swif
tly replaced by surprise, relief and then anger as she openly studies
the boy across from her Her daughter a middle-aged woman, sits down on
one side of her and her teenaged grandson takes his place on the othe
r side of the victim. The older woman's minister two elderly women nei
ghbors, and a middle-aged male friend find their name tags on chairs f
urther down the horseshoe's arch. When they sit down they fill the las
t vacancies in the horseshoe of chairs. The large man who greeted them
all takes his place on a chair at the open end of the horseshoe. He i
s the conference coordinator and the only one with whom every person p
resent has spoken about this meeting. He smiles quietly, looks around
the circle effaces, clears his throat and begins the family group conf
erence.