Successful Restitution as a Predictor of Juvenile Recidivism

Abstract This is an evaluative study of a juvenile probationary project in which youth are ordered to pay restitution as a term of probation and, to assure them means of compliance, the juvenile court arranges for and supplies their employment. Demographic variables (age and sex) and court-related variables (plea, length of probation, amount of restitution ordered, and amount and proportion actually paid) are examined in relation to one another and, most important, in relation to recidivism as measured by subsequent law violations for which the offender was investigated, and subsequent law violations that resulted in formal charges against the youth. The data demonstrate that recidivism is related to severity of the initial offense, but more important, it is related to the youth's success in achieving the restitution goal. Successful compliance with the restitution order, when success is measured by amount of restitution paid relative to the amount ordered by the court, is significantly related to revocation of probation, time given to pay, amount ordered to be paid, and subsequent offenses charged. Indeed, the proportion of restitution paid is the most important predictor of recidivism. The data reinforce the dominant legislative position that an offender's ability to pay must be taken into account in ordering restitution.     

Mediation mythology

Conclusion TheInterim Guidelines for Selecting Mediators promote a mythology that is broader and already more effective than the specific screening device created by the guidelines is likely to be. That mythology has been quite successful in generating support for the institutionalization of mediation and the establishment of both a market and an occupation in the practice of mediation.The guidelines may prove successful, however, in furthering that mythology — and thus the professionalization of mediation — by appearing to create techniques to insure that mediators fulfill the mythological requirements of the role: passivity, informality, neutrality, and efficiency. If the guidelines become widely adopted, they will also restrict access to the occupation by defining occupational prerogatives that will debar some persons from sharing in them. Furthermore, if licensing does eventually follow, the guidelines will have gone a long way toward providing authoritative, legal consequences to private, and I would suggest, mistaken determinations of what constitutes good and ethical mediation practice. Susan S. Silbey is Professor of Sociology at Wellesley College, Wellesley, Massachusetts 02181.