Mastodawn

"The present article provides an integrated review of the current state of social science about the ex ante function of legal punishment in affecting criminal behavior."

CONCLUSION

"Unfortunately, so far, the existing empirical work has not had a central place in policy, legislation, and political discourse (Loughran 2019, Nelken & Hamilton 2022). Unsurprisingly, scholars have been frustrated that their insights on, for instance, the inconclusive evidence for the deterrent effect of #incarceration on violent crime or the evidence that treatment can help to rehabilitate have not had sufficient impact (Cullen et al. 2011, McGuire 2013). Empirical research has failed to sway policymakers and political leaders for many reasons, too many to cover fully here."

"Researchers must not give up but instead continue to engage with the public and with policy makers. They also must accept that although many policy makers (or their staffers) may be aware of these conclusions, the accumulated science may not change policy for various reasons, including their constituents’ viewpoints, their perception that being tough on crime will sway voters, and so forth. Yet, researchers should not throw in the towel."

"Given the various costs associated with punishment, this seems to be a paramount consideration."

Benjamin van Rooij, Malouke E. Kuiper, Alex R. Piquero. 2025. How Legal Punishment Affects Crime: An Integrated Understanding of the Law's Punitive Behavioral Mechanisms. Annual Review Law and Social Science. 21:509-526. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-lawsocsci-111524-094646

#restorativeJustice #punishment

How Legal Punishment Affects Crime: An Integrated Understanding of the Law's Punitive Behavioral Mechanisms

Punishment plays a major function in preventing crime. Punishment can potentially shape criminal conduct through at least 13 different mechanisms: 5 have a positive effect, reducing crime, and 8 have a negative effect, stimulating offending. This article explains what these 13 potential effects of punishment are and how they have been theorized. It further reviews the body of available empirical evidence for each of these mechanisms. It finds that for many mechanisms there is mixed and inconclusive evidence with major methodological challenges. The article further analyzes the conditions under which punishment affects crime, including the type of crime, offender, and underlying causes and correlates of crime. It also explores the time frames through which punishment affects crime, as well as the ways in which different behavioral effects of punishment interact. The conclusion develops ideas about how this body of empirical work can come to shape criminal justice practice.

Annual Reviews

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punIssuer Mar 5

@gamambel @traum_und_verantwortung those poor summer children; they seem to believe incarceration is to deter crime, instead of continuing otherwise abolished slavery…

"Constitution of the United States
Thirteenth Amendment

Section 1
Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, *except as a punishment for crime* whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."
–https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-13/

Funny how the war on drugs resulted in mostly Black people getting incarcerated, while cocaine use was and is widespread among the (dominantly white) C-Level…

U.S. Constitution - Thirteenth Amendment | Resources | Constitution Annotated | Congress.gov | Library of Congress

The original text of the Thirteenth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States.

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Traum und Verantwortung e.V.Mar 5

@punissuer @gamambel I assume the goal here is to work against whatever convictions or reasons people may or may not have without detailing them, and argue with facts. Not because facts are of much interest of those pro-punishment, but on some level they have to argue against the facts, both internally and externally, at least as long as the sanctioned/official reasoning in many jurisdictions is not punishment but reintegration, and future crime prevention. What we can do is try and take away these (pretend) arguments. For that, it is unlikely to help to accuse the other party of "pro-slavery". Even if true, it is too easy to deny and deflect, and thus feeds the opponent. It's a power play, after all. We're not going to win anyone over by calling them out like that. (Also, not all conversation is about the US. Most of the world probably has written that off anyway, for the next century or two. There, it's about "how to stay sane while dealing with narcissists and psychopaths", a different game altogether.)