Community Restitution for Juveniles: An Approach and Preliminary Evaluation

Abstract

Restitution to victims ofjuvenile offenders is based upon the principle of holding an individual responsiblefor his or her actions. Recently several juvenile restitution projects have been established as a result of disenchantment with traditional rehabilitation programs and the increasing interest in victims of crimes. This article reviews the major theoretical premises of this kind of program and concentrates on a description and preliminary evaluation of the Community Restitution Project in Orange County, California. The evaluation shows several promising features of this project in handling nonviolent juvenile offenders. Finally, several suggestions for increasing the effectiveness of the restitution program are presented.

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