National Restitution Training Series, Tape 4: Restitution, Does It Work?

• NCJ Number: 100138
• Author(s): P R Scheider
• Date Published: 1986
• Length: 0 pages
• Corporate Author: US Dept of Justice
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/NCJRS
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: VHS video-cassette, color, 58 mins. in length

Annotation

The director of the evaluation component of the Juvenile Restitution Initiative funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice in 1976 discusses relationships between program variables and restitution completion rates, as well as restitution's impact on juvenile recidivism.

Abstract

The speaker summarizes the Juvenile Restitution Initiative, noting that the evaluation collected data from 85 projects based on 19,000 juvenile referrals and 20,000 victims. Also reviewed are rationales underlying restitution, programming options, and decisions that affect program components. The Restitution Initiative evaluation found that 86 percent of the juveniles completed their restitution orders and that different combinations of program components made little difference to completion rates. Program and client variables discussed in detail include subsidized versus nonsubsidized jobs for youth, degree of supervision, size of restitution order, family income, in school versus dropouts, and prior offenses. The speaker emphasizes that the completion rate was high even for the most difficult offenders. In addition, the evaluation results suggest that agencies can design individualized programs to address local needs and attitudes and be successful. Data from five sites in which youths were randomly assigned to restitution and treatment/incarceration groups show that youths given restitution has lower recidivism rates over a 4-year followup period.