Custodial Sanctions and Reoffending: A Meta-Analytic Review [journals.uchicago.edu]
By Damon M. Petrich, Travis C. Pratt, Cheryl Lero Johnson, and Francis T. Cullen, University of Chicago, October 2021 ABSTRACT Beginning in the 1970s, the United States began an experiment in mass imprisonment. Supporters argued that harsh punishments such as imprisonment reduce crime by deterring inmates from reoffending. Skeptics argued that imprisonment may have a criminogenic effect. The skeptics were right. Previous narrative reviews and meta-analyses concluded that the overall effect...