Toward the development of punishment equivalencies: Male and female inmates rate the severity of alternative sanctions compared to prison

Gender differences in the effects of prison on recidivism

“…The third argues that the courts may view tougher treatment of females as having a more adverse effect on children and families and so sentence females less harshly. Notably, studies suggest that males and females tend to view the severity of different criminal justice sanctions in a similar way, although females tend to embrace alternative sanctions more so than males and also are more likely to view prison as a punitive sanction relative to non-incarcerative alternatives (see, e.g., Wood & Grasmick 1999).…”

“…Among the causes that have been suggested has been the notion that "softer" sanctions, such as probation and a range of intermediate sanctions, which typically involve some combination of surveillance and treatment approaches (Tonry & Lynch, 1996), were viewed as ineffective (Petersilia 1995(Petersilia , 1997, even though some studies have suggested that these sanctions may be viewed by offenders as, in some cases, tougher than a prison term (see, e.g., Petersilia & Deschenes 1994;Spelman 1995;Wood & Grasmick 1999). A greater reliance on prison thus derives in part from the perception that imprisonment is better than the options, including traditional probation, intensive probation, and short stays in jail, that typically have been and would be used to punish offenders.…”

The Alternatives to detention program : assessment of one Kentucky county's efforts to deinstitutionalize status offenders.

“…Perhaps they view foster care placement as more punitive than incarceration. This would be supported by findings of Wood and Grasmick (1999) who determined that prison inmates perceived alternative sanctions such as probation and electronic monitoring more punitive than incarceration, and that offenders preferred to serve out their sentences instead of participating in alternative sanctions. These issues should be explored further as the ATD program becomes established.…”

Exploring the Positive Punishment Effect Among Incarcerated Adult Offenders

“…Such findings undermine classical deterrence doctrine which claims that those who are imprisoned for a crime would be a) less likely to re-offend, and b) less likely to prefer prison over a community based sanction. This research shows that offenders with prison experience are more likely to choose to do the time and be released, rather than "gamble" by investing time and effort in completing an alternative sanction with a high perceived likelihood of revocation, unacceptable restrictions, and supervision by hostile probation and parole officers (Wood and Grasmick 1999;Wood and May 2003).…”

“…Finally, in questioning the deterrent effect of imprisonment, recent work demonstrates that male and Black offenders-particularly those with prior prison experienceare more likely than females and Whites to choose to serve prison over any amount of a variety of alternative, community-based sanctions (Wood and Grasmick 1999;Wood and May 2003). Such findings undermine classical deterrence doctrine which claims that those who are imprisoned for a crime would be a) less likely to re-offend, and b) less likely to prefer prison over a community based sanction.…”