Assessing the impact of imprisonment on recidivism

Abstract

Objectives There is debate about the extent to which imprisonment deters reoffending. Further, while there is a large literature on the effects of imprisonment, methodologically sound and rigorous studies are the exception due to problematic sample characteristics and study designs. This paper assesses the effect of imprisonment on reoffending relative to a prison diversion program, Community Control, for over 79,000 felons sentenced to state prison and 65,000 offenders sentenced to Community Control between 1994 and 2002 in Florida. Methods The effect of imprisonment on recidivism is examined within one-, two-, and three-year follow-up periods using Logistic Regression, Precision Matching, and Propensity Score Matching.Results Findings indicate that imprisonment exerts a criminogenic effect and that this substantive conclusion holds across all three methods. Conclusions The main contribution of this study is that various methods yield results that are at least in a similar direction and support overall conclusions of prior literature that imprisonment has a criminogenic effect on reoffending compared to non-incarcerative sanctions. Limitations and directions for future research are noted.

Educational Outcomes After Serving with Electronic Monitoring: Results from a Natural Experiment

“…2 Previous reviews on imprisonment and reoffending document, that the empirical evidence of deterrent effects of imprisonment is non-conclusive (Mears et al 2015;Nagin et al 2009). This picture is also reflected in recent studies addressing selection issues and yet identifying diverse results: Bales and Piquero (2012) and Cochran et al (2014) find higher risk of recidivism among imprisoned offenders compared to offenders e.g., on probation, whereas Kuziemko (2013) shows that the length of imprisonment lowers the risk of recidivism, and Nagin and Snodgrass (2013) find little evidence that incarceration has an impact on rearrests.…”

Assessing the Prison Experience for Australian First Peoples: A Prospective Research Approach

“…Internationally, there is substantial research indicating that a prison sentence is criminogenic (Bales and Piquero 2012). While yet to be tested, a possibly unique cause of that criminogenesis for First Peoples prisoners is the deep colonising effects of a prison's quality.…”

The Moderating Relationship of Comorbid Psychopathology and Treatment Outcome for Young Adult Offenders in Drug Court

“…In 2013, about 2 million American citizens were incarcerated-approximately 716 people per 100,000 [1,2]. Contrary to expectations, incarceration has been consistently demonstrated as widely ineffective for preventing recidivism [3][4][5]. In particular, offenders with substance abuse issues have become a growing concern within the criminal justice system.…”