Sanctions, Perceptions, and Crime: Implications for Criminal Deterrence

Apel, Robert

doi:10.1007/s10940-012-9170-1

Cited by 247 publications

(243 citation statements)

References 109 publications

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“…Given the scope of this review, our discussion of perceptions is necessarily brief. We direct the reader to an excellent review of this literature by Apel (2013) for a more detailed accounting of the perceptual-deterrence literature.…”

Section: Perceptions and Deterrencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…This approach was initially borne out of the inadequacy of data needed to test the microfoundations of the Becker model, but has the advantage of having generated a dense literature that is practical and policy-relevant. Given that the literature studies the effect of policy variables, an important intermediate outcome and indeed a precursor to identifying deterrence is the extent to which potential offenders are aware that policy has changed (Waldo and Chiricos 1972, Nagin 1998, and Apel 2013. Apel (2013) characterizes the link between actual and perceived deterrence as involving a series of considerations that include both threat communication, the degree to which a change in the certainty or the severity of a sanction is communicated or advertised, and risk perceptions, the individual's perceived risk of being apprehended and punished.…”

Section: Perceptions and Deterrencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Given that the literature studies the effect of policy variables, an important intermediate outcome and indeed a precursor to identifying deterrence is the extent to which potential offenders are aware that policy has changed (Waldo and Chiricos 1972, Nagin 1998, and Apel 2013. Apel (2013) characterizes the link between actual and perceived deterrence as involving a series of considerations that include both threat communication, the degree to which a change in the certainty or the severity of a sanction is communicated or advertised, and risk perceptions, the individual's perceived risk of being apprehended and punished. Crucially, risk perception is not assumed to be stable and indeed an important literature has arisen that seeks to understand how offenders update risk perceptions in response to experience (see Apel and Nagin 2011 for a comprehensive review on the subject).…”

Section: Perceptions and Deterrencementioning

confidence: 99%

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Criminal Deterrence: A Review of the Literature

Chalfin

McCrary

2017

Journal of Economic Literature

494

279

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We review economics research regarding the effect of police, punishments, and work on crime, with a particular focus on papers from the last twenty years. Evidence in favor of deterrence effects is mixed. While there is considerable evidence that crime is responsive to police and to the existence of attractive legitimate labor-market opportunities, there is far less evidence that crime responds to the severity of criminal sanctions. We discuss fruitful directions for future work and implications for public policy. (JEL J64, K42)

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Section: Perceptions and Deterrencementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Perceptions and Deterrencementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Perceptions and Deterrencementioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Criminal Deterrence: A Review of the Literature

Chalfin

McCrary

2017

Journal of Economic Literature

494

279

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Within this framework, the decision to commit crime is heavily affected by one prominent factor: the individual's perceived risk of apprehension (Loughran et al 2011;Nagin 1998Nagin , 2013a. Perception of this risk was found to be highly influenced by proximate variables, including objective sanction risks (Apel 2013), and among these objective risks, police presence is an important ecological cue that inhibits criminal conduct (Golub et al 2003;Sherman 1990). But we remain entirely unclear about how much the presence of police doing what, has how much effect, for how long.…”

Section: The Deterrent Effect Of Policingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Soft” policing at hot spots—do police community support officers work? A randomized controlled trial

2016

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Objectives To determine whether crime-reduction effects of increased police patrols in hot spots are dependent on the Bhard^threat of immediate physical arrest, or whether Bsoft^patrols by civilian (but uniformed) police staff with few arrest powers and no weapons can also reduce crime. We also sought to assess whether the number of discrete patrol visits to a hot spot was more or less important than the total minutes of police presence across all visits, and whether effects based on counts of crime would be consistent with effects on a Crime Harm Index outcome. Methods We randomly assigned 72 hot spots into 34 treatment units and 38 controls. Treatment consisted of increases in foot patrol by uniformed, unarmed, Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) who carry no weapons and hold few arrest powers beyond those of ordinary citizens. GPS-trackers on every PCSO and Constable in the city yielded precise measurements of all patrol time in all hot spots. Standardized mean differences (Cohen's d), OLS regression model, and Weighted Displacement Quotient are used to assess main effects, to model the interaction effect of GPS data with treatment, and to measure the diffusion-of-benefits of the intervention, respectively. Outcomes included counts of incidents as well as the Cambridge Crime Harm Index. Results As intended, patrol visits and minutes by Police Constables were equal across the treatment and control groups. The sole difference in policing between the treatments groups was in visits to the hot spots by PCSOs, in both the mean daily frequency of discrete visits (T = 4.65, C = 2.66; p ≤ .001) and total minutes across all visits (T = 37.41, J Exp Criminol (2016) 12:277-317 DOI 10.1007/s11292-016-9260-

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“…Individuals are generally poor judges of the certainty and severity of criminal sanctions (Apel, 2013), with approximately one-third of households not knowing what the maximum penalty for marijuana possession is in their state (Pacula, Kilmer, Grossman, & Chaloupka, 2007). To be effective anti-marijuana policies must shift away from law enforcement policy and into the field of public health policy.…”

Section: Internationalmentioning

confidence: 99%

Marijuana Consumption and the Perception of Health and Criminal Risk for those Ages 18-25

Ruggeri

Peters²,

Allgrunn³

2017

ijcrr

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Abstract:Drug use is a serious public health concern in the United States. This paper examines how the perception of risk (of both health and criminal sanctions) affects consumption behavior for those ages 18-25 during the years of 1999-2007. Our analyses found that criminal classification of marijuana possession is a strong predictor of past month marijuana use. States that classify personal use quantity marijuana possession as a felony indicated the lower past month marijuana consumption rate (14.58%) compared to states that classify the offense as a misdemeanor (15.79%) or petty crime (19.09%).Felony possession (β = -1.59, p < .000) and misdemeanor possession (β = -.950 p < .005) laws were the two strongest predictors of past month marijuana use. Marijuana health risk perception was also a significant predictor (β = -.634, p < .000).However, marijuana price per gram (β = .110, p < .05) and residing in a state with large monetary fines (greater than $1000) and severe jail terms (greater than 6 months) for marijuana possession (β = -.081) had little influence on past month marijuana consumption.

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Sanctions, Perceptions, and Crime: Implications for Criminal Deterrence

Cited by 247 publications

References 109 publications

Criminal Deterrence: A Review of the Literature

Criminal Deterrence: A Review of the Literature

“Soft” policing at hot spots—do police community support officers work? A randomized controlled trial

Marijuana Consumption and the Perception of Health and Criminal Risk for those Ages 18-25

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