The Replacements: The Effect of Incarcerating Drug Offenders on First-Time Drug Sales Offending

Abstract

It is proffered that incarcerating offenders will not attenuate criminal activity because new offenders are readily available to supplant those who are imprisoned. This situation, referred to as offender replacement, is mostly applicable for drug selling crimes where a market for illegal drugs exists. We hypothesize that if the incarceration of established drug offenders attenuates competition and creates a fertile environment for novice drug dealers to enter the market, a rise in the drug incarceration rate should increase the likelihood of first-time drug selling behavior. Using a multilevel modeling procedure, we find that a one-unit increase in the drug incarceration rate results in a 15% rise in the odds of a first-time offender being prosecuted for a drug-selling crime.

Learning from perpetrator replacement to remove crime opportunities and prevent poaching of the Sundarbans tiger

“…A combination of surrender and rehabilitation activities with enforcement actions enabled pirate removal. However, when there are many highly motivated potential offenders ready to replace those arrested, strategies reliant on arresting individuals can backfire by providing opportunities for new actors to enter the market (Torres et al, 2021) or by enabling networks to build shortcuts and actively facilitate criminal behaviors (Duijn & Klerks, 2014). Similar processes appear in this case, meaning any decline in tiger poaching due to the antipiracy campaign was short‐lived.…”