Crime and Punishment in the United States, 1981-1999 (From Crime and Punishment in Western Countries, 1980-1999, P 123-159, 2005, Michael Tonry and David P. Farrington eds. - See NCJ-241530)

• NCJ Number: 241534
• Author(s): Patrick A. Langan
• Date Published: 2005
• Length: 37 pages
• Sale Source: University of Chicago Press
• Publication Format: Book Chapter
• Publication Type: Statistics; Historical Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This chapter discusses the criminal justice system in the United States.

Abstract

Periods of variation in criminal punishment provide natural opportunities to investigate effects on crime. In general, punishment severity (sentence length and time served, for example) did not vary over the period investigated in this study, while punishment risk did: most notably, both arrests and conviction rates rose. As the risk of legal punishment rose, crime fell, which suggests, but by no means proves, a causal connection. It is impossible to identify from existing national data the specific policies and practices that produced rising arrest and conviction rates in the United States. (Published Abstract)