3

IT NEEDS TO LOOK LIKE THIS ONE

Deterrence theory is based on the argument that potential offenders are deterred from future criminality by the threat of future swift, certain, and severe penalties (ASJ, 2021). There are two ways in which deterrence is intended to work, specific deterrence and general deterrence. Specific deterrence is when “apprehended and punished offenders will refrain from repeating crimes if they are certainly caught or severely punished” (ASJ 16). It is intended to influence the sanctioned offender. General deterrence is when “the state’s punishment of offenders serves as an example to those in the general public who have not yet committed a crime, instilling in them enough fear of state punishment to deter them from crime” (ASJ 16). It focuses on influencing the behavior of others in society.       Garner, Maxwell, and Lee (2021) examine the impact of specific deterrent effects of criminal sanctions for intimate partner violence. It differs from previous studies that emphasize the general deterrent effects of police presence, arrest, and incarceration rates on various serious crimes. Since these reviews neglected to conduct research on specific deterrence processes, the goal of this study was to determine the deterrent impacts of intermediate sanctions such as prosecution or conviction in regards to intimate partner violence. The study reported 237 tests of specific deterrence theory and the effects of sanctions varied. For prosecution, there was a marginal deterrence effect. No deterrent effect was shown on conviction. The most significant effect was found among incarcerated offenders where a large escalation effect was seen, which is the opposite of deterrence.     The study utilized a meta-analysis in order to address the main question of “To what extent are post-arrest criminal sanctions – prosecution, conviction, or jail – associated with lower rates of subsequent intimate partner violence?” (Garner et al., 2021). The post-arrest sanctions were placed into four categories of increasing severity: not prosecuted, prosecuted, convicted, and incarcerated. The researchers hypothesized that there would be no difference in the rate of repeat offending for prosecuted, convicted, and incarcerated offenders of intimate partner violence. The less severe sanction of prosecution was found to have more of a deterrent effect than the more severe sanction of incarceration. Prosecution studies reported a moderate sized effect in the direction of deterrence; however, it was not found to be statistically significant. The intermediate sanction of conviction was found to not have an escalation or deterrent effect present. When testing the specific deterrent effects of incarceration, only two of the studies tested were shown to have a statistically significant deterrent effect. More studies did favor an effect in the direction of deterrence, but it was not statistically supported.  Surprisingly among incarcerated offenders, it was more likely that a statistically significant elevation effect was reported. The deterrence theory was not supported as it was found that incarceration is actually associated with more repeat offending.       When looking at the theory itself and the results of this study, it would be expected that an increase in intimate partner violence would occur. Throughout the pandemic, many people were either laid off from their jobs or strictly conducting remote work. As a result, more individuals were at home with their partners. Also, at this point in time, there was no threat of certain and swift punishments. Many criminal proceedings were not carried out during the pandemic and numerous aspects of the criminal justice system were affected. Courts were not being operated and a backlog of cases was reported. Based on Garner, Maxwell, and Lee’s (2021) findings, there would not be a deterrent effect. The main sanction they found to be a significant specific deterrent effect was prosecution, which was not occurring throughout the pandemic. The hypothesized threat of swift, certain, and severe punishment was not active during the pandemic, and as a result an increase in intimate partner violence would be expected.

References

Akers, R. L., Sellers, C. S., & Jennings, W. G. (2021). Criminological Theories: Introduction, Evaluation, and Application (8th ed.). Oxford University Press.