Putting Severity of Punishment Back in the Deterrence Package

Mendes, Sílvia M.; McDonald, Michael D.

doi:10.1111/j.1541-0072.2001.tb02112.x

“…of police, public prosecution, court decision and kind of imprisonment. This comprehensive coverage avoids any misspecification due to missing variables, a problem put forward by Mendes and McDonald (2001), and Mustard (2003). Conviction rates and time served are theoretically important, but rarely used.…”

Section: Econometric Modeling and Methodological Aspectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As the Criminal Law Reform entailed changes away from short-term custodial sanctions, also the average length of prison sentences should be focused on when calculating the expected costs of committing a crime. As Mendes and McDonald (2001) and Mustard (2003) argue convincingly, components of general deterrence do not work independently of each other.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is Being 'Soft on Crime' the Solution to Rising Crime Rates?: Evidence from Germany

Entorf

¹

,

Spengler

²

2008

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Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Abstract: Based on a theoretical framework on informal, custodial and non-custodial sentencing, the paper provides econometric tests on the effectiveness of police, public prosecution and courts. Using a unique dataset covering German states for the period 1977-2001, a comprehensive system of criminal prosecution indicators is derived and subsequently related to the incidence of six major offence categories using panel-econometrics. Empirical evidence suggests that the criminal policy of diversion failed as increasing shares of dismissals by prosecutors and judges enhance crime rates in Germany. Crime is significantly deterred by higher clearance and conviction rates, while the effects of indicators representing type (fine, probation, imprisonment) and severity (length of prison sentence, amount of fine) of punishment are often small and insignificant. Terms of use: Documents in

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“…hvort stefnumótun í vímuefnamálum eigi að hafa hamlandi (e. restrictive/use reduction) eða skaðaminnkandi áhrif (e. harm reduction) (Jónas Orri Jónasson, 2011). Hamlandi stefna gerir ráð fyrir að árangursríkast sé að beita hörðum refsingum fyrir fíkniefnabrot, eins og vörslu, neyslu, dreifingu og framleiðslu (Mendes og McDonald, 2001). Ef heildarneysla er minni og faerri prófa fíkniefni, sérstaklega unglingar, beri það vitni um jákvaeðan ár-angur stefnunnar (Hallam, 2010).…”

Section: Viðbrögð Samfélagsins Við Fíkniefnavandanumunclassified

Fíkniefni, íslenskt samfélag og nýir kostir í stefnumótun

Gunnlaugsson¹

2013

irpa

0

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Fíkniefni, íslenskt samfélag og nýir kostir í stefnumótun Helgi Gunnlaugsson, prófessor við Félags-og mannvísindadeild Háskóla Íslands ÚtdrátturFíkniefnavandinn er af mörgum álitinn einn helsti vandi sem vestraen ríki glíma við í dag. Viðhorfsmaelingar á Íslandi sýna að flestir telja neyslu fíkniefna alvarlegasta vandamál afbrota en samneyslu áfengis og fíkniefna mikilvaegustu ástaeðu þess að sumir leiðast út í afbrot. Neysla algengasta fíkniefnisins, kannabis, hefur reglulega verið maeld meðal grunnskólabarna hér á landi en neysla fullorðinna hefur minna verið könnuð. Lítið er því vitað um hvernig neysla sem hefst í grunnskóla þróast þegar kemur fram á fullorðinsár, hvort hún aukist, standi í stað eða minnki. Ekki er heldur mikið vitað um félagsleg einkenni þeirra sem misnota hörð fíkniefni á Íslandi. Í greininni er útbreiðsla kannabis skoðuð eins og hún er meðal fullorðinna á Íslandi. Hversu margir hafa prófað efnið á lífsleiðinni, hversu margir hafa neytt þess oftar en tíu sinnum og hversu margir á síðustu sex mánuðum fyrir maelinguna? Staða sprautufíkla er sérstaklega greind og hvaða félagslegu áhaettuþaettir koma þar við sögu. Mat almennings á alvarleika brota er kannað og ástaeður þess að fólk leiðist út í afbrot eru einnig kannaðar. Helstu niðurstöður eru þaer að heildarfjöldi þeirra sem einhvern tíma hefur prófað kannabis hefur aukist á síðustu árum en fjöldi þeirra sem nota efnið reglulega er óverulegur. Sprautufíklar standa margir hverjir höllum faeti í samfélaginu og eiga við margvíslegan vanda að stríða. Brýnt er að stefnumótun í fíkniefnamálum taki mið af ólíkum hliðum neyslunnar í samfélaginu um leið og úrraeði fyrir langt leidda fíkla verði efld í félags-og heilbrigðiskerfinu.

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“…Cornwell and Trumbull (1994, their approach was replicated by Baltagi, 2006), who also were among the first authors who applied panel econometrics, presented exceptional work because of their comprehensive list of law enforcement variables containing the probabilities of arrest, conviction (conditional on arrest), and imprisonment (conditional on conviction) as well as the severity of sanctions. However, the general impression is that only few studies have taken account of all factors, something that was also pointed out by Mustard (2003) as well as Mendes and McDonald (2001). In particular the interplay of conviction rates and sentence lengths, i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Crime, prosecutors, and the certainty of conviction

Entorf

¹

,

Spengler

²

2013

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Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. www.econstor.eu The Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in Bonn is a local and virtual international research center and a place of communication between science, politics and business. IZA is an independent nonprofit organization supported by Deutsche Post Foundation. The center is associated with the University of Bonn and offers a stimulating research environment through its international network, workshops and conferences, data service, project support, research visits and doctoral program. IZA engages in (i) original and internationally competitive research in all fields of labor economics, (ii) development of policy concepts, and (iii) dissemination of research results and concepts to the interested public. Terms of use: Documents in D I S C U S S I O N P A P E R S E R I E SIZA Discussion Papers often represent preliminary work and are circulated to encourage discussion. Citation of such a paper should account for its provisional character. A revised version may be available directly from the author. This paper tests predictions of a structural, augmented supply-of-offenders model regarding the relative effects of police, public prosecution and courts, respectively, on crime. Using detailed data on the different stages of the criminal prosecution process in Germany, empirical evidence suggests that public prosecutors and their influence on the probability of conviction play a major role in explaining the variation of crime rates, while the impact of the severity of punishment is small and insignificant.JEL Classification: K14, K41, C23

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Putting Severity of Punishment Back in the Deterrence Package

Cited by 56 publications

References 40 publications

Is Being 'Soft on Crime' the Solution to Rising Crime Rates?: Evidence from Germany

Is Being 'Soft on Crime' the Solution to Rising Crime Rates?: Evidence from Germany

Fíkniefni, íslenskt samfélag og nýir kostir í stefnumótun

Crime, prosecutors, and the certainty of conviction

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