Results of what probationers report feeling because of their sentence indicate that probation is more or less meeting all the philosophical goals. It appears that for many offenders probation is experienced as unpleasant; it feels restrictive and deserved, and probationers believe it is doing them some good. Recent national estimates reveal that probation remains the most widely used sanction in the United States. Deterrence asserts that offenders alter their perceptions of the relative costs and benefits of committing future crimes based on their experience with punishment. Criminals’ perceptions also matter for rehabilitation and retribution. It is ventured that, in the context of probation, offenders’ perceptions are relevant even for incapacitation. However, beyond considerations of relative punitiveness, very little is known about how offenders understand the experience of serving a probation sentence. This study surveyed offenders currently on probation to investigate several dimensions of how probationers make sense of their sentence. These dimensions included the extent to which they believed their sentence was rehabilitative, incapacitative, deserved, and a deterrent to future offending. Tables, notes, and references