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Victims, Offenders, and Alternative Sanctions

NCJ Number
74113
Editor(s)
J Hudson, B Galaway
Date Published
1980
Length
200 pages
Annotation
These selected papers from the third national restitution and community-service symposium cover restitution theory, restitution and public policy, attitudes toward restitution, victim perspectives, and legal issues.
Abstract
One paper refutes the idea that punishment is unjustifiable and that restitution is an alternative and instead argues that restitution might be especially useful in promoting the rehabilitative and retributive goals of punishment. It also analyzes reparation and its justification in rehabilitative, deterrent, or retributive penal philosophies. In addition, the recent juvenile restitution initiative of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is examined in terms of implementation, the operation of funded restitution projects, and the goal of reducing incarceration among juvenile offenders. Three attitude studies present information about the attitudes of offenders and victims regarding the fairness of and their willingness to participate in monetary restitution and community service sanctions; the impact of community service sanctions on offenders' attitudes toward the criminal justice system and themselves; and the perception of the appropriateness of money restitution and community services sentencing as punishments for selected property offenses. Other papers examine barriers to victim involvement in restitution programs, a victim-oriented restitution program in New York City, and the operation of a rural juvenile restitution project. Two legal research reports analyzing the use of monetary restitution with juveniles and statutes and case law involving restitution with adults, plus a review of currently available restitution and community service research, conclude the text. An index, chapter notes, tabular data, and 43 references are supplied. (Author abstract modified)