Punishment and Restitution - A Restitutionary Approach to Crime and the Criminal

• NCJ Number: 95201
• Author(s): C F Abel; F H Marsh
• Date Published: 1984
• Length: 214 pages
• Sale Source: Greenwood Publishing Group
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Contributions in Criminology and Penology, Number 5

Annotation

Punishment is not justified unless it is restitutionary, and the state is not justified in punishing unless it metes out restitutionary punishment.

Abstract

Restitution allows both victim and criminal some opportunities to define more effectively what will happen to them after a crime is committed. A restitutionary criminal justice system includes a court with a problemsolving approach rather than an adversarial one. Courts should act as neutral arbiters among conflicting value systems to address the damage done by an act and not its intrinsic evil, its possible deterrent effect, or the rehabilitation of the offender. All seriously pressed demands of any involved individual or group should be given a hearing as an interest possibly damaged by the criminal act and deserving of monetary recompense. Restitution should be awarded to victims of such crimes as violent acts against people or property, treason, nepotism, fraud, and using public authority for private ends. The amount of restitution should depend upon both the injury to the victim and the benefit to the wrongdoer. A model penal system would include (1) in-prison manufacturing or service programs (when appropriate) where both labor and as much administration as possible is done by offenders; (2) residential in-community programs where offenders work in the community and spend off-work time primarily at the center; and (3) nonresidential in-community programs where offenders are treated essentially as parolees. Funding sources for such programs include bond and stock sales, and government-secured loans, among others. Feasibility studies to evaluate the impact of the restitution program on the local economy, and targeting production and services to those areas of the economy where private capitalism does not work are needed. Special approaches are also needed for murderers, offenders who will not work, class differences and appropriate restitution work, government involvement, inflation, and insurance. Chapter notes, an index, a 170-item bibliography, and a table of contents are provided.