Deterrence theory Part II

1. Deterrence theory Part II

2. Deterrence Theory • What can be done to make the act of crime or deviance less attractive to the individual? • How can crime or deviant behavior be prevented?

3. Crime Prevention • "...crime prevention or at least crime reduction, may be achieved through policies that convince criminals to desist from criminal activities, delay their actions, or avoid a particular target." (Siegel, p.133, 1992).

4. Crime Prevention • Target hardening (deadbolts, self-defense skills, neighborhood watch programs, etc.), • Legal deterrents (more police, mandatory sentencing, "three-strikes" laws, the death penalty, etc.)

5. Imprisonment • Within the concept of specific deterrence is the idea that punishment must be effective. • Most punishment in the modern societies involves imprisonment. • Research demonstrates that recidivism amongst convicted felons following release from prison is as high as 63% and that most prison inmates had arrest records and convictions prior to their current offense (Bureau of Justice Statistics).

6. Incapacitation • The conclusion, then, is incarcerate to incapacitate. • Prison as punishment may not alter future behavior, but it certainly reduces the chances an individual has for engaging in any other crime or deviance, and at least reduces the threat they constitute to the general population. • “Lock them up and throw away the key.”

7. Preventive Incapacitation • Refers to the effect of a sentence in terms of preventing (rather than merely deterring) future offending • Imprisonment incapacitates the prisoner by physically removing them from the society against which they are deemed to have offended

8. Specific Inacapacitation • Cutting off a hand of a thief is an example of specific incapacitation • This prevents the thief from stealing in the future in a drastic manner • In addition, it has a perceived deterrent effect on others.

9. Incapacitation • Is incapacitation a practical use of social resources? • There is almost a universal understanding among sociologists and criminologists that aging out is a significant element of the deviance/crime process, in other words, the older a person becomes, the less likely it is that they will engage in criminal/deviant behavior.

10. Scared Straight • Prevention programs that utilize prison settings in an effort to “scare” youths • Began in mid-1970’s in the Rahway State Prison (New Jersey) • A group of inmates decided to give something back to the society • Make teenagers aware if the dangers and difficulties facing youngsters in prison

11. Scared Straight • Scared Straight programs became popular before being thoroughly evaluated. • A comprehensive “What Works” report to the U.S. Congress in 1997 of more than 500 crime prevention evaluations listed Scared Straight under “what does not work.”

12. What is wrong? • Scared Straight programs not only fail to deter crime, but have been shown to result in increased juvenile offending when compared with no intervention. • Research shows that Scared Straight-type interventions increase delinquent outcomes by 1% to 28%. • Youth who went through such programs had higher rates of re-offending than youth who did not go through the programs.

13. Boot camps • There is no consistent proof which supports the effectiveness of boot camp programs • To take care of rigorous behavior problems, boot camp programs rely on destructive argument, harsh discipline, extreme bodily exertion, and strict respect to those with power. • The efficiency of boot camps varies with the adolescent. • Some youth enlarge best under the stress of hard-hitting love, but other needs just simple love. • The effectiveness of the boot camp can show a discrepancy from adolescent to adolescent, and the outcome is dependent upon the attitude of the youth as well as the parents.