NCJ Number
86458
Date Published
1981
Length
21 pages
Annotation
A review of Anglo-Saxon and European criminological literature clarifies the theoretical concept of deterrence, distinguishes it from prevention, and notes the difficulties involved in assessments of deterrent effects.
Abstract
Critiques of deterrent prevention point out that there is no given causality between general deterrence and obedience to the law that deterrent effects differ among individuals and societies, that it is unethical to use the punishment of one person to deter others, and that there are high human and material costs in using criminal punishment to gain crime reduction benefits. Also, for many crimes where the risk of discovery is minimal, deterrence instruments cannot be put into effect. Empirical studies have shown the impossibility of measuring general deterrent effects, which cannot be distinguished from those of incapacitation, which may be artifacts of altered reporting systems, and which are not evidenced by a decrease in crime incidence. Research into deterrence has produced observations on the complexity of interrelationships between social phenomena. Among these is the recognition that crime control affects and is affected by the crime level; that the social structure affects both criminality and the level of crime control; and that crime control is exercised not only formally by the judicial system but also informally by the family, school, peers, etc. The complexity of these interrelationships makes it difficult to isolate deterrent factors for experimentation or to identify them in self-reports as the basis of an individual's rational decision to desist from crime. One table and 34 references are given.