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Effective discussion of new (version of old) thinking about deterrence

By Douglas A. Berman

This morning's New York Times magazine has this effective piece by Jeff Rosen titled "Prisoners of Parole."  The full piece is a must read, and here is a snippet from the start and end of the piece: Classical deterrence theory has long held that the threat of a mild punishment imposed reliably and immediately has a much greater deterrent effect than the threat of a severe punishment that is delayed and uncertain.  Recent work in behavioral economics has helped to explain this phenomenon: people are more sensitive to the immediate than the slightly deferred future and focus more on how likely an outcome is than how bad it is.  In the course of implementing HOPE, [Hawaii state Judge Steven] Alm discovered another reason why the strategy works: people are most likely to obey the law when they?re subject to punishments they perceive as legitimate, fair and consistent, rather than arbitrary and capricious...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on January 10, 2010 (boomark / email).