CSR (Community Service Restitution) - A Sentencing Alternative

• NCJ Number: 74424
• Journal: TEXAS JOURNAL OF CORRECTIONS Volume: 6 Issue: 6 Dated: (November/December 1980) Pages: 16-19,29
• Author(s): Anonymous
• Date Published: 1980
• Length: 5 pages
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

The history of community service restitution (CSR) as a corrections program, common CSR principles, and the CSR operation in Travis County, Texas, are examined.

Abstract

CSR is a sentencing alternative in which defendants are directed to perform services for selected governmental or nonprofit agencies. The idea began in England in the late 1960's. It developed from an investigation into alternatives to imprisonment conducted by the Home Secretary's Advisory Council on the Penal System. CSR programs were exported to America, where conventional punishments were being criticized for severing the offender's ties with family and community, thus compounding the offender's antisocial problems. The CSR programs are viewed as benefiting society, the criminal justice system, and the individual. The service to various organizations in the form of labor or professional expertise furthers the goals of these organizations at no cost. In addition, CSR reduces the cost to society of corrections and increases probationer-client involvement with the criminal justice system. Also, the availability of this sentencing alternative aids in moving crowded dockets toward more rapid disposition. Benefits to the individual include improved self-orientation, improved relationships with others, and improved relations with society as a whole. CSR avoids economic hardship of the client and family and the stigma of probation. The Travis County CSR program began in 1978, when the county's participation in one of two pilot programs was solicited. A total of 339 clients have been involved since the program's inception, and 40 agencies are now active participants. Case studies are cited including that of two welfare fraud participants who were later offered permanent jobs in the understaffed State Hospital and a schoolteacher who developed a fourth-grade curriculum on community and self-awareness.