Does Court-Ordered Community Service Work?: Evidence from a Case Study (Elements in Public and Nonprofit Administration)

Nesbit, Rebecca; Choi, Su Young; Clay-Warner, Jody

ISBN 10: 1009308793 / ISBN 13: 9781009308793

Published by Cambridge University Press, 2026

About this Item

Print on Demand.

Seller Inventory # 407537701

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Does Court-Ordered Community Service Work?: Evidence from a Case Study (Elements in Public and Nonprofit Administration)
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication Date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1009308793
• ISBN 13: 9781009308793
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

Based on interviews with thirty-one managers in community organizations and thirty-four court-ordered community service workers (CSWs) in Georgia, this Element asks whether community service programs are likely to achieve their stated goals of restitution, cost savings, and rehabilitation and what conditions support or undermine success. While some individuals perceive a benefit, these programs often shift costs to under-resourced nonprofits, impose administrative burdens, and fail to foster meaningful community connection or long-term rehabilitative outcomes. The Element indicates that cost savings are illusory, restitution is weakened by supervision demands, and rehabilitation is inconsistent across participants. For community service to realize its restorative potential, it must be restructured across the criminal legal system with attention to organizational capacity, both of probation offices and the community organizations working with CSWs. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.