The Effect of Prison Population Size on Crime Rates: Evidence from Prison Overcrowding Litigation

Levitt, Steven D.

doi:10.2307/2946681

Cited by 639 publications

(150 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…On the other hand, American explanations start from the premise that all offences are shifting in the same direction. For example, if an increase in imprisonment should have an influence on the crime rates (Levitt 1996), it is difficult to understand why this influence should be exerted on certain crimes and not on others. The same logic can be applied to explanations based on the legalisation of abortion (Donohue and Levitt 2001), the increase in the number of police officers (Levitt 2004) or the changes in demographics and economic opportunities (for these and other explanations, see Wallman 2000, 2006).…”

Section: Classical Criminological Theories and Explanations Of The Ammentioning

confidence: 99%

Is There a Crime Drop in Western Europe?

Aebi

Linde

2010

Eur J Crim Policy Res

100

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Combining data from police statistics and crime victim surveys, this article analyses the evolution of crime in Western Europe from 1988 to 2007. The results show that there is no general drop in crime. Property offences and homicide have been decreasing since the mid 1990s, while violent and drug offences have increased during the period under study. These trends highlight the limits of the explanations to the crime drop in the United States, which are based on the premise of a correlation in the evolution of all offences. The drop in property offences seems related to changes in the socioeconomic situation in Europe as well as to increases in security measures in households, and the reinforcement of private security. The increase in violent offences can be explained by the combination of several factors, including changes in youth's free time provoked by the development of the Internet, changing demographics, and the rise of episodic heavy alcohol consumption and street gangs.

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Section: Classical Criminological Theories and Explanations Of The Ammentioning

confidence: 99%

Is There a Crime Drop in Western Europe?

Aebi

Linde

2010

Eur J Crim Policy Res

100

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“…The data was collected by Clear et al [13] and has not been used previously. 2 It is the first panel data analysis of crime and incarceration at the neighborhood level of which I am aware. 3 I find that although crime fell in Tallahassee between 1995 and 2002 while incarceration rates rose, there is no evidence at the level of the neighborhood to indicate that increased incarceration reduced crime.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For supporters of the "lock'em up and throw away the key" approach, this fact has been welcomed as vindication that more punitive incarceration has worked. Several researchers have provided evidence for the benefits of incarceration in reducing crime [1][2][3][4][5][6], while other scholars have argued that other factors-an improving economy, the decrease in the price of drugs, the ending of the crack-cocaine epidemic, the legalization of abortion, changing demographics and the measurement and reporting of crime data, among others-were equally or more relevant [7][8][9].…”

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confidence: 99%

The bluntness of incarceration: crime and punishment in Tallahassee neighborhoods, 1995 to 2002

Dhondt

2012

Crime Law Soc Change

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The relationship between crime and incarceration is vexed. Some scholars suggest that incarceration deters crime. Others suggest that incarceration can increase crime in certain situations by undermining the social fabric and making the environment more criminogenic. Most of the empirical work on the question is undertaken at an aggregate level (county, state, or national data). Yet, criminologists have long argued that the complex intertwining of crime and punishment is best understood at the neighborhood level, where the impacts of incarceration on social relationships are most closely felt. This paper examines the question using a panel of neighborhoods in Tallahassee, Florida for the period 1995 to 2002. I find evidence to support the contention that the high levels of prison admissions and prison cycling (admissions plus releases) is associated with increasing crime rates in disadvantaged neighborhoods. This effect is not found in other neighborhoods. Looking more closely at the issues of race and class, I find that while marginalized neighborhoods experience slightly higher crime rates, they are faced with much higher incarceration rates. In Black neighborhoods in particular, prison admissions are an order of magnitude higher in comparison with non-Black neighborhoods even though underlying crime rates are not very different.By employing incarceration-the bluntest of instruments-as the primary response to social disorder, policy makers have significantly missed the mark. The very laws intended to punish selfish behavior and to further common social interests have, in practice, strained and eroded the personal relationships vital to family and community life. Crime cannot go unpunished. But by draining the Crime Law Soc Change (2012) 57:521-538

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“…This set of policies is largely in line with the rational choice theory of crime (e.g., Becker 1968;Ehrlich 1975;Levitt 1996Levitt , 1997Paternoster 2010). The rational choice school posits that criminals are motivated by utilitarian cost-benefit analysis.…”

Section: Theoretical Background Deterrence Information and The Dropmentioning

confidence: 73%

“…Barbarino and Mastrobuoni (2014), Buonanno and Raphael (2013), Levitt (1996Levitt ( , 2004 and Owens (2009) claim that incapacitation measures effectively reduce crime, but Eck and Maguire (2006) and Beattie and Mole (2007) suggest that increases in police forces and incarceration rates in the United States and in Canada did not lead to expected outcomes.…”

Section: Theoretical Background Deterrence Information and The Dropmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating the Effect of Homicide Prevention Strategies in São Paulo, Brazil: A Synthetic Control Approach

Freire

2022

Lat. American Res. Rev.

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Although Brazil remains severely affected by civil violence, the state of São Paulo has made significant inroads into fighting criminality. In the last decade, São Paulo has witnessed a 70 percent decline in homicide rates, a result that policy-makers attribute to a series of crimereducing measures implemented by the state government. While recent academic studies seem to confirm this downward trend, no estimation of the total impact of state policies on homicide rates currently exists. The present article fills this gap by employing the synthetic control method to compare these measures against an artificial São Paulo. The results indicate a large drop in homicide rates in actual São Paulo when contrasted with the synthetic counterfactual, with about 20,000 lives saved during the period. The theoretical usefulness of the synthetic control method for public policy analysis, the role of the Primeiro Comando da Capital as a moderating variable, and the practical implications of the security measures taken by the São Paulo State government are also discussed.Apesar de o Brasil permanecer gravemente afetado pela violência civil, o estado de São Paulo tem realizado progressos significativos no combate ao crime. Na última década, São Paulo testemunhou uma queda de 70% em suas taxas de homicídio, um resultado que formuladores de políticas públicas atribuem a uma série de medidas de redução de criminalidade adotadas pelo governo estadual. Embora estudos acadêmicos recentes pareçam confirmar esta tendência de baixa, ainda não há estimativas do impacto total das políticas estatais sobre a taxa de homicídios. O presente artigo visa preencher tal lacuna ao empregar o método de controle sintético para comparar tais medidas contra um São Paulo artificial. Os resultados indicam uma grande queda nas taxas de homicídio quando contrastadas com o contrafactual sintético, com cerca de 20,000 vidas salvas durante o período. A utilidade teórica do controle sintético para a análise de políticas públicas, o papel do Primeiro Comando da Capital como variável moderadora, e as implicações práticas das medidas de segurança adotadas pelo governo do estado de São Paulo também são discutidas.

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The Effect of Prison Population Size on Crime Rates: Evidence from Prison Overcrowding Litigation

Cited by 639 publications

References 6 publications

Is There a Crime Drop in Western Europe?

Is There a Crime Drop in Western Europe?

The bluntness of incarceration: crime and punishment in Tallahassee neighborhoods, 1995 to 2002

Evaluating the Effect of Homicide Prevention Strategies in São Paulo, Brazil: A Synthetic Control Approach

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