Some Reasons Offenders Participate in VOD in Crimes of Severe Violence
- An opportunity to finally express remorse and regret directly.
- A chance to try and find relief from haunting feelings of guilt.
- A chance to try and find relief from haunting feelings of shame.
- A chance to try and find relief from haunting feelings of disgust.
- A chance to hear and understand more about exactly what was done to the victim and survivor(s).
- A chance to see and understand how his/her own experience of the event is different from, and similar to, what the victim/survivor experienced.
- A chance to try and explain how unexpected his/her capacity for violence had been to him/her.
- A chance to acknowledge that he/she cannot begin to change his/her life without first trying to be personally accountable to the victim/survivor.
- A wish to respond to any requests from the victim/survivor that he/she can.
- A wish to do anything possible to begin to try and make up for what he/she did, though nothing can ever undo it.
- A hope that talking with the victim/survivor will provide him/her with a chance to be as completely honest with the victim/survivor as it is possible to be.
- A wish and desire to finally “do the right thing” for the victim/survivor