Consultation in prison

Rianne Alderliesten is a mediator at Perspectief Herstelbemiddeling. Together with Ilja van der Molen, who is a recovery coordinator at the Ter Apel prison, she works on informing people about recovery (mediation) in detention. Since last year, every first Tuesday of the month, she does consultation hours at the Ter Apel prison.

“It’s a nice way to get to know someone and to discuss restorative mediation in an informal way.” In the last months, her consultation hours were all fully booked. The posters of Perspectief Herstelbemiddeling, with the dates and times of the consultation hours, have clearly not gone unnoticed. 

Easily accessible

The content of the conversations varies from a first conversation in which someone wants information about how Perspectief works, to an intake and a preparative talk. “The conversations take place in a central office in the prison, but sometimes also in a specific department. As long as it’s a space where people can talk freely and confidentially. In general, people are nervous to have these first conversations. That’s why it’s nice to have this easily accessible way to have an informative talk and get to know the mediator.”

Some of these informative talks have led to actual contact between offenders and their victims. “It has also happened that the other person did not respond to the invitation, or it wasn’t possible to contact them because we didn’t have their contact information. But the convicts still say they are happy that they were able to tell their story, and that through the mediator they may still be able to help their victims. This way, they can do something about the sometimes heavy burden they feel on their shoulders.”

Saving letters for later

In the upcoming year, Rianne and Ilja hope to have a set location in which they can have these conversations. “We also want to look into whether it’s possible to let convicts write a letter to their victims that will be stored and saved in the casefile of Perspectief Herstelbemiddeling. It’s possible that the victims may want to get in contact in the future, but that by that time the convict has already left the country. This way, the convict gets a chance to apologize, even if they can’t get in contact with the victim at that moment.”