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20/08/2012

BBC Radio 4 - The Victim's Voice

Victims of violent crime come face to face with men serving sentences for similar crimes.

Prof Tanya Byron invites a group of victims of violent crime into Brixton Prison to come face to face with men serving sentences for similar crimes - with powerful results.

Earlier this year a programme produced for the national radio station for prisoners, National Prison Radio, received a coveted Gold Sony Radio Academy Award. BBC Radio 4 now introduces a re-version of this ground-breaking programme, bringing it to a national audience.

The views of victims can sometimes get overlooked in the criminal justice system. In The Victim's Voice, psychologist Professor Tanya Byron invites a group of victims of violent crime into Brixton Prison to come face to face with men serving sentences for committing similarly violent acts. With brutal honesty, Ray, Vi and Michelle, who have all lost loved-ones to serious crimes, talk directly to the prisoners, challenging them to look at the impact of their own actions.

Restorative justice, as this process is known, is a relatively new approach to dealing with the harm done by crime. It aims to facilitate communication between victims and perpetrators, encouraging understanding, empathy and changes in behaviour.



Producer: Marianne Garvey
A Prison Radio Association production for BBC Radio 4.

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