Over the years, scholars have conducted many studies to assess the impact of incarceration on the prevalence of crime. However, these studies have had mixed findings, with some showing that incarceration reduces crime, while others indicate that it does not have a positive impact. Thus, the opposing research findings show that incarceration is not the best solution to crime rates in an area. A study by Rose and Shem-Tov (2018) ascertained that short-term incarceration could have positive results on crime reduction, while for the long-term, it will lead to an increase in crime. The researchers established that imprisonment reduces crime by 38 percent, 24 percent, and 20 percent when offenders are imprisoned for one, two years, and three years respectively. According to this study, incarceration only incapacitates offenders for a while by removing them from society. It thus means that imprisoning offenders has a high likelihood of influencing their post-release criminal behavior. The scholars thus concluded that the behavior of incarceration reducing crime is modest. From this conclusion, one acknowledges that incarceration has both positive and negative impacts on crime reduction. Also, the longer the incarceration period is, the less likely will offenders shun their criminal behaviors.
Another study by Roodman (2017) also found that incarceration in the USA has mixed impacts on an area's crime rate. The researcher found that imprisonment has similar effects on both juveniles and adults after release. The scholar explains that studies are split along the middle on the impact of incarceration on crime. In an attempt to explain this trend in the findings, the author states that there are several factors to consider. Some examples include the diversity of offenders, differences in crimes, laws, and different approached to adjusting sentencing guidelines.
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References
Roodman, D. (2017). The Impacts of Incarceration on Crime. Open Philanthropy Project, September .
Rose, E., & Shem-Tov, Y. (2018). Does Incarceration Increase Crime?. Available at SSRN 3205613 .
