NCJ Number
229214
Journal
Criminology Volume: 47 Issue: 4 Dated: November 2009 Pages: 1131-1166
Date Published
November 2009
Length
36 pages
Annotation
This study examined the potential effects of supermax incarceration on recidivism.
Abstract
Evidence was found that supermax incarceration might increase violent recidivism but found no evidence of an effect of the duration of supermax incarceration or the length of such incarceration to the time of release into society. The implications of the findings for theory, research, and policy are discussed. Since the early 1980s, supermax incarceration has emerged as a common feature of the American corrections landscape. The goal of this study was to contribute to theory and research on prisoner reentry and offending as well as to provide scholarship aimed at understanding the effects of supermax incarceration. Drawing on prior work on reentry and supermax prisons, the study used Florida Department of Corrections data to examine competing hypotheses about whether supermax confinement increases or decreases recidivism. Results of this study offer a unique opportunity to understand those factors related to the successful reentry of offenders back into society; affords an opportunity to test the claims that have been made about the putative effects of supermax confinement; and provides an empirical touchstone that can help inform policy debates about the merits of such confinement. Tables, references, and appendix