Juvenile Restitution as a Sole Sanction or Condition of Probation: an Empirical Analysis

Abstract

Judges frequently require that offenders, as a condition of probation, make restitution to their victims. Less frequently, restitution is ordered as a sole sanction, with no additional penalties or requirements. This paper, based on data from more than 10,000 juvenile court cases involving restitution, com pares the outcomes of cases in which offenders were sentenced to restitution as a condition of probation with those in which offenders were ordered to make restitution as a sole sanction. The data indicate that youths receiving restitu tion as a sole sanction are more likely to complete the order successfully and less likely to commit new offenses while under the jurisdiction of the restitution project.