Traditional mandated community service (CS) typically consists of picking up trash or performing manual labor, distanced from the community. Some juvenile justice programs have begun to implement restorative community service (RCS) programs that enable youth to complete meaningful CS projects in a shame-free manner alongside community members. This study compared RCS with a standard community service (SCS) program in two counties in Washington State on psychosocial outcomes, including attitudes, peer relationships, school conduct, academic performance, and substance use. Recidivism was also examined. RCS was associated with reduced substance use and fewer school conduct difficulties compared with SCS, and also positively influenced peer relationships and attitudes. These findings suggest that adding a restorative component to CS may improve psychosocial outcomes for justice-involved youth, but there was no evidence that adding a restorative component to CS led to reduced recidivism. Additional systematic studies are needed to determine whether these findings replicate.

传统的强制性社区服务（CS）通常包括在远离社区的地方捡垃圾或进行体力劳动。一些少年司法计划已开始实施恢复性社区服务（RCS）计划，这些计划使青年能够与社区成员一起以无耻的方式完成有意义的CS项目。这项研究将RCS与华盛顿州两个县的标准社区服务（SCS）计划在心理社会成果方面进行了比较，包括态度，同伴关系，学校行为，学习成绩和药物使用情况。还对累犯进行了审查。与SCS相比，RCS减少了药物的使用，减少了学校行为困难，并且对同伴关系和态度产生了积极影响。这些发现表明，在CS中添加恢复性成分可能会改善涉及司法的青年的社会心理结果，但是没有证据表明在CS中添加恢复性成分会降低累犯率。需要进行额外的系统研究来确定这些发现是否重复。