Criminal activity is an issue that people deal with on a daily basis all around the world. In the United States in 2007, the Office for Victims of Crime created a crime clock based off of reports from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s National Crime Report as well as from other, more specific, trusted government agencies such as the Department of Health and Human Services (DOJ, 2008). According to their calculations, in 2007 a murder took place every 31 minutes, a home theft occurs 4.8 seconds, and a home burglary took place every 18 seconds (DOJ, 2008). Discovering whether or not prison serves as an effective deterrent, whether for only certain types of offenders or for all offenders, is vital to keeping our citizens safe.
Determining whether or not imprisonment is an effective deterrent and for what type of offenders it is effective is vital to our criminal justice system both financially and ethically. Prisons in the United States have been battling the issue of overcrowding practically since the formation of the original …show more content…
However, there has been extensive studies of the effectiveness of prison as a punishment and deterrent. A study of British offenders who in 1993 were either released from prison, probation, or completed community service work provided results which strongly supported the theory that prison serves as an effective deterrent (Coad, 1999). Of those released from prison, 53% were convicted on separate charges upon release (Coad, 1999) However, 60% of offenders who had been put on probation were convicted of one or more offenses in the following two years (Coad, 1999). Interestingly to this specific study, offenders who had been in prison for 4 to 10 years – as opposed to those with a sentence less than a year - had a reconviction rate as low as 26% (Coad,
Determining whether or not imprisonment is an effective deterrent and for what type of offenders it is effective is vital to our criminal justice system both financially and ethically. Prisons in the United States have been battling the issue of overcrowding practically since the formation of the original …show more content…
However, there has been extensive studies of the effectiveness of prison as a punishment and deterrent. A study of British offenders who in 1993 were either released from prison, probation, or completed community service work provided results which strongly supported the theory that prison serves as an effective deterrent (Coad, 1999). Of those released from prison, 53% were convicted on separate charges upon release (Coad, 1999) However, 60% of offenders who had been put on probation were convicted of one or more offenses in the following two years (Coad, 1999). Interestingly to this specific study, offenders who had been in prison for 4 to 10 years – as opposed to those with a sentence less than a year - had a reconviction rate as low as 26% (Coad,