NCJ Number
94610
Journal
Contemporary Crises Volume: 8 Issue: 3 Dated: (July 1984) Pages: 243-263
Date Published
1984
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This study describes the characteristics of the literature on deterrence research, determines in what ways it has been influenced by funding agencies, and explores the consequences of such research, including its ideological implications and ethical dilemmas.
Abstract
For the literature review, four prominent journals in each of the following disciplines were selected: criminology, economics, sociology, political science, and psychology. Articles that dealt with crime, punishment sanctions, and deterrence were examined. The boom year for articles on deterrence was 1968. In the 1960's and 1970's, the majority of deterrence articles were empirical studies of deterrence, with the 1970's studies relying heavily on questionnaires for self-report information on law violation and perceptions of punishment, as well as on FBI reports and prison statistics. Methodological innovations rather than new types or sources of data help explain the research boom. The increasing tendency to store criminal justice data in computers made such research easier and hence more attractive. During the 1960's, nearly half of the studies found evidence of a deterrent effect of punishment, while during the 1970's the percentage of such positive findings slipped to a slight degree. The remainder of studies in both time periods are almost equally divided between those finding no evidence of deterrence, mixed and confusing results on deterrence, and articles not taking any position on the issues. Findings suggest that the developments within social science have been of greater importance in the growth of deterrence research than external financial inducements. The debunking of deterrence may have been the intention of many of the researchers. Ironically, this is precisely the message of labeling theory, which some deterrence researchers seemed bent on discrediting. Whatever the ethical implications of deterrence research, considering the frequently inconclusive findings, the early criminologists may have been correct in claiming that crime cannot be controlled by punishment, but rather is a result of complex and diverse cultural influences. Eighty-four notes are listed.