Deterrence, Incapacitation and Rehabilitation: The Effects of Sanctions on Crime Rates (From Report for 1986 and Resource Series No. 31: UNAFEI, P 174-188, April 1987, Hideo Utsuro, ed. -- See NCJ-115311)

• NCJ Number: 115316
• Author(s): D E Lewis
• Date Published: 1987
• Length: 15 pages
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Type: Research (Theoretical)
• Language: English
• Country: Japan

Annotation

This article analyzes the effects of sanctions on crime rates in the form of deterrence, incapacitation, and rehabilitation.

Abstract

A criminal sanction is a penalty for the violation of a criminal law, taking on various forms ranging from a fine to execution. Sanctions have the potential to influence crime rate via deterrence, incapacitation, and/or rehabilitation. Deterrence is defined as the inhibiting effect of sanctions on the criminal activity of people other than the sanctioned offender. Reviewing several studies on deterrence, it is concluded that despite various problems in interpreting these results, the evidence of the deterrent effect of longer sentences is strong. Incapacitation is defined as the effect of isolating an offender from the larger society, thereby preventing him/her from committing crimes in that society. Upon review of several American studies on incapacitation it is concluded that this effect is not very large, and the crimes averted do not account for a very significant portion of the crimes committed. Rehabilitation is the effect on individual recidivism of convicted offenders resulting from any treatment. There is no conclusive evidence that sanctions rehabilitate or criminalize offenders. Police, judicial officials, and corrections officers need to be aware of these conclusions in order to perform their jobs more effectively. 7 tables, 4 notes, and 32 references.