Mediation for Misdemeanor Assault

Abstract

ABSTRACT Crime reduction strategies over the past 30 years have greatly expanded the criminalization of a wide variety of minor offenses, especially in communities of color, even as violence continues to damage individuals, families, and communities. Solutions that reduce both violence and over-criminalization are urgently needed. Community-based mediation for diversion of misdemeanor assault cases has been practiced since the 1970s, but little is known about its ability to prevent further violence between participants or reduce assault recidivism. From a state judiciary’s quasi-experimental longitudinal comparison group study of criminal court mediation recidivism, assault cases (n = 162) were isolated and analyzed using bivariate tests and logistic regression with inverse proportion of treatment weighting. Misdemeanor assault cases handled with community-based mediation had a small and statistically non-significant association with return to court at 6 months versus cases handled with usual court processes. Had assaults between couples been excluded, recidivism for mediation cases would have been one-third the rate of those treated as usual. Mediation centers and local prosecutors’ offices could improve screening for intimate partner violence and divert more cases earlier via police and court commissioners. Research with a dependent variable of self-reported violence would be best suited to understanding the ability of community mediation to meet its founding mission of community-created peace.