NCJ Number
94449
Date Published
1984
Length
96 pages
Annotation
This evaluation of the Community Service Order Program (CSO) in Durham Region, Ontario, found that the involved juveniles, their parents, and the general public were favorably disposed toward the CSO program. There were some positive impacts on participants' behavior when compared with a control group of probationers.
Abstract
The samples of juveniles, which were drawn from the court dockets of the provincial courts (family division) in the Region, consisted of those juveniles who received CSO's during the designated period (n=100) and a sample of juveniles matched on five variables who received probation but did not receive a CSO. Interviews were conducted with the juveniles themselves, their parents, their probation officers, and supervisors of CSO work. About 70 percent of the juveniles in the sample completed their CSO's or were still working on them. Police files were examined to determine the number of recorded police cautions and charges for the juveniles before and after their court appearance. School records were examined, and marks, school absences, and recorded disciplinary problems were noted. Finally, a sample of 100 citizens of the region were polled for their view of CSO programs. Those involved generally held favorable views of the program, as did the public. While most measures revealed no differences between those receiving CSO's and those receiving regular probation, those receiving CSO's had fewer subsequent police cautions than the control group, although the CSO group had police cautions prior to CSO participation. The CSO group also had fewer instances of reported violation of probation rules. As an alternative disposition for young offenders, these results suggest that the CSO program should be expanded. The appendixes contain the interview forms and discussions of successes in matching experimental and control groups and in conducting interviews. Tabular data and 17 bibliographic listings are provided.