NICRO offers a range of interventions for individuals:
Assessments
All NICRO clients receive an assessment, which is repeated periodically to track needs and behaviour change. The assessment explores the client’s risks as well as protective factors, and identifies areas where the client needs support. The social worker will refer the client to interventions based on his or her needs.
Assessments are thorough and detailed. An assessment session can take up to two to three hours and the first report can take up to four weeks to complete. Standardized tests and tools are available to our staff to assess the client’s likelihood of re-offending, as well as the degree of risk he or she presents to the community.
Victim-Offender Mediation or Restorative Group Conferencing
Victim-Offender Mediation or VOM is a structured intervention that allows the victim and the offender to face one another in a controlled setting. Extensive preparation of both the victim and offender must take place before the event, and there is also structured follow-up done after the event to ensure that both parties have access to the support they need.
As with VOM, Restorative Group Conferencing or RGC allows for the victim and other affected parties to interact with the offender and address the issues that the crime has caused. Extensive preparation and after care are provided to all parties.
Participation in VOM or RGC is voluntary for both parties.
The goals of VOM or RGC are to assist the victims in healing and also to assist the offender in taking full responsibility for the harm caused.
The minimum number of hours a worker should spend on a VOM or RGC process is 60 hours. These hours are however, not relevant to cases where serious trauma dynamics (severe violence and physical and psychological harm) exist. Please take note that time spent on the process could and frequently does exceed 60 hours.
In cases where serious harm have been caused, no minimum time guideline can be provided as it can take months or even years for victims to be ready to face offenders. In this regard studies undertaken demonstrated that it took on average 9.6 years from the time the crime was committed to the time the victim was ready to engage in dialogue with the offender.
VOMs and RGCs are undertaken with children from the age of ten years through to adults. Apart from children under the age of ten, there is no age limit applied to individuals who can participate in such processes. Taking into account that the RGC process is a powerful process that contributes to the development of victim empathy in the offender, and does not stand as a behavioural change programme individually, NICRO applies these processes to offenders presenting low, medium and well as high risk re-offending profiles.
Individual Counselling or Intensive Therapy
Individual counselling is offered as and when needed by the social worker. A session can last for one to a few hours. The topics are drawn from the client’s current challenges.
Intensive therapy is also offered in the same way where the client has serious issues relating to unaddressed trauma. Many of our clients have been exposed to violence and abuse in their own lives. Successful behaviour change requires that these issues are also addressed.
In the event that a client requires a specialist intervention from a psychiatrist or a clinical psychologist, the social worker will arrange that referral.
Community Service Learning
Community Service Learning is a structured intervention where an offender is placed at a host agency where he or she will perform community service in the form of unpaid work. Community service can last from 20 hours to 300 hours. The most common placements are at local NGOs and charities. In addition to the performance of work, the offender is also required to engage and reflect on the intervention as a learning experience. The offender’s performance is monitored by the social worker.
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