Call me a simpleton, but I think the fact that they chose to study ONLY CRIMINALS when trying to determine whether or not prison deters crime is absurd.
Seems to me they're missing the whole group of people who never got arrested because they never committed a crime because they were detered, possibly by fear of prison. So, I have a hard time supporting the conclusion based on that study.
What would make more sense to me is a conclusion that there is a class of person who is indifferent to prison due to environmental factors - perhaps the same factors that caused them to commit a crime in the first place (bad environment/upbringing) or perhaps the fact the process of going to prison one time affects ones view of it.
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Call me a simpleton, but I think the fact that they chose to study ONLY CRIMINALS when trying to determine whether or not prison deters crime is absurd.
Seems to me they're missing the whole group of people who never got arrested because they never committed a crime because they were detered, possibly by fear of prison. So, I have a hard time supporting the conclusion based on that study.
What would make more sense to me is a conclusion that there is a class of person who is indifferent to prison due to environmental factors - perhaps the same factors that caused them to commit a crime in the first place (bad environment/upbringing) or perhaps the fact the process of going to prison one time affects ones view of it.
Also, don't forget that while locked up, criminals are not running around committing more crime, so prison certainly deters crime in that sense.
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