A 1984 Hamburg study focused on the public's acceptance of restitution in lieu of punishment. A comprehensive questionnaire was sent to a random sample of 4,400 adult residents of Hamburg. A total of 1,799 usable questionnaires were returned. One part of the questionnaire consisted of a victim survey. The survey findings presented in this paper pertain to victims' views of how offenders should be sentenced. Results indicate that restitution is accepted by the public. Only 55 percent of victims of violent crime and 63 percent of victims of burglary would use punitive sanctions if they were sentencing their offender. West Germany's Victim Protection Act of 1987, however, gives little attention to the inclusion of restitution in sentencing as a means of meeting victims' needs and remedying their losses. Instead, the act emphasizes using victims' injuries and losses as a measure of crime severity and as a criterion for determining the harshness of punishment. 2 tables and 17 references