Punitive Instead of Rehabilitative: The Role of Restitution in the Juvenile Justice System and the Need for Reconstruction

The juvenile justice system was founded on the premise of giving specific attention to the needs of youth and rehabilitating them. Over the years, the juvenile justice system evolved to include more rights and protections for youth while still maintaining that their goal was to rehabilitate justice-involved youth. Restitution, one method of disposition, began as a way to continue this rehabilitation-based mission and provide an alternative to incarceration. However, rehabilitation’s disproportionate and punitive application, with a lack of consistency across state lines, does not coincide with rehabilitation anymore.

This article argues that restitution does not align with rehabilitation, the core motivation of the juvenile justice system and instead, analyzes alternatives to restitution that more align with the juvenile justice system’s rehabilitative purpose.