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

• NCJ Number: 99551
• 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, N 5

Annotation

Following an analysis of practical and ethical issues in the current retributive, rehabilitative, and deterrent approaches to crime within the criminal justice system, the rationale for and a model of a restitutional, victim-focused approach are presented.

Abstract

With its focus on repairing the individual and the social damage caused by criminal acts, restitution provides a fair, efficient, and workable approach to punishment that distributes benefits and burdens to achieve socially necessary goals in a way that promotes human welfare and enhances the self-determination of both offender and victim. Using such an approach, the courts must assume a problemsolving rather than adversarial stance and must act as neutral arbiters among conflicting value systems. Moreover, restitution must consider the interests of the public, the victim, and the wrongdoer. The penal model needed to enforce restitution should include in-house prison manufacturing and services programs, residential community programs in cooperation with private businesses, and nonresidential community programs that treat offenders as parolees. Chapter notes, an index, and approximately 160 references are provided.