A COST EFFECTIVENESS ANALYSIS OF THE MARYLAND STATE RESTITUTION PROGRAM (VICTIMS, RECIDIVISM)

Although the concept of cost effectiveness analysis is currently in vogue, it is interesting to note the absence of such analysis in the criminal justice field. An examination of the available research and literature in the area of restitution programming indicates an abundance of descriptive and attitude studies. There is, however, a lack of rigorous quantitative or analytical studies addressing the cost effectiveness of restitution programs. The few studies which have attempted to evaluate the effects of restitution have been flawed, failing to yield useful results. In an effort to determine the cost effectiveness of alternative criminal sentences, recidivism rates are compared for offenders sentenced to restitution, incarceration, or probation in the state of Maryland. In this thesis, data on relevant variables were collected from two hundred and ten offender files. A non-experimental design using logit and multiple regression analysis was employed. While the data confirmed the importance of several independent variables in the occurrence of recidivism, some of the relationships traditionally associated with recidivism such as sentence and drug use could not be supported. Efforts to explain these findings included difference of means tests between the study sample and offenders located across the United States during the same time period. This analysis yielded no difference between groups for many key variables. Next, judges responsible for sentencing offenders included in this study were interviewed to determine which variables, if any, were important determinants of sentence and recidivism. These consultations suggested that factors not lending themselves to quantitative analyses significantly impact judicial sentencing decisions. It is proposed that for this sample, variables such as offender demeanor may play an important role in the sentencing decision. As a result, variables traditionally associated with post sentence success or failure (recidivism) may have been neglected, thus yielding results such as those observed here.