NCJ Number
85158
Date Published
1979
Length
95 pages
Annotation
The fourth in a series of reports detailing the progress of a national evaluation of adult restitution programs, this document explains the evaluation context, reviews previous research, and describes objectives and procedures.
Abstract
The evaluation encompasses programs at numerous stages in the criminal justice process in seven States. It is designed to assess the effectiveness of the particular programs with regard to victims' and offenders' attitudes and other factors. A review of the previous research reveals that few studies shed light upon the claims, fears, and suppositions that have been raised in connection with the use of either restitution or community service. Most of the laws and programs dealing with restitution were in the context of probation, where the dominant type of restitution seemed to involve cash rather than any form of service repayment. In the few cases in which service restitution was employed, community service was the most common type, with direct service to the victim being rare. Full rather than partial restitution was used in the majority of cases. Procedures for determining loss were not clearly documented, and the definition of victim varied. Most offenders who were required to pay restitution were young, white, unmarried males with short prior records. Restitution was ordered almost entirely for property offenses. There is almost no evidence that restitution has any effects on the subsequent attitudes of victims or offenders. Ten charts and 149 references are provided.