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The Effectiveness of Incarceration as a Crime Eradication Method
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Introduction
Incarceration is one of the methods used by justice systems to help prevent and
eradicate crimes in society. According to Kubrin & Seron (2016), incarceration refers to the
confinement of offenders in a jail or prison. It is one of the main punishment and
rehabilitation methods for people who have committed a felony as well as other cases.
Studies show that the U.S has the largest population of incarcerated individuals. Besides,
according to Kubrin & Seron (2016), the U.S has the leading per-capita incarceration rate. As
of 2018, the incarceration rate in the U.S was 698 individuals per every 100,000 people
(Weiss Riley et al., 2018). As per Weiss Riley et al. (2018), parole, prison as well as
probation crime prevention methods cost U.S citizens in excess of $81 billion annual costs. In
the U.S, there is a high incarceration rate among racial and ethnic minorities. Also, high
incarceration rates can be observed among people with lower education levels. For example,
several studies have shown that both Hispanic and black people are increasingly arrested and
convicted of different crimes compared to white people. As per Rothschild (2019), the racial
disparities in incarceration levels are influenced by the state as well as federal policies. One
of these policies includes three strikes. Regarding education, several reports have shown that
people who lack GEDs or high school diplomas are highly likely to be arrested and
incarcerated compared to their educated peers (Rothschild, 2019). What is more, disparities
in incarceration are also found at the community level. Various reports have shown that some
communities are inexplicably burdened by high incarceration rates.
One of the emergent issues regarding incarceration is recidivism. Recidivism refers to
the act of an individual repeating an unlawful behavior and consequently imprisoned after
being released from prison (Pratt, 2018). Also, it is used for referring to the portion of the
former convicts who have been rearrested for either the same or a different offense. As per a
Pew Center report of 2011, the average recidivism rate was 43% (Pratt, 2018). What is more,
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other recent studies have shown that about 44% of the lately released prisons are rearrested
and convicted imprisoned before the culmination of their first year outside prison.
Recidivism is normally gauged by the criminal activities that led to rearrests, reimprisonment
or the return of a former inmate into prison in the course of a three-year period after the
release of the prisoner. Pratt (2018) notes that recidivism is a very significant feature,
particularly when considering the primary criminal justice topics of rehabilitation, specific
deterrence in addition to incapacitation. Besides, there exists a strong connection between the
recidivism concept and the advancing body of research on criminal desistance. It is important
to note that regarding the concept of criminal desistance, most of the offenders either desist or
recidivate.
Due to the increasing levels of recidivism, many people tend to think that
incarceration is not an effective method of reduction or elimination of criminal activities.
Most of these people opine that incarceration would have been an effective method if the
levels of recidivism were almost zero. As a result, a lot of literature has been done that shows
that incarceration is an ineffective criminal justice system approach. However, this should not
be taken as the absolute as some studies have provided convincing reasons why incarceration
should be considered an effective criminal justice approach for the reduction of criminal
activities not only in the United States but also in other parts of the globe. This paper argues
that incarceration is an effective crime eradication method. Incarceration is an effective
method because it ensures general deterrence and individual deterrence and it imparts
prisoners with skills that make them resourceful citizens once they complete their
imprisonment.
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Major Points of Supporting the Position that Incarceration is an Effective Crime
Eradication Method
i. Incarceration helps at deterring people who would otherwise commit crimes
general deterrence) as well as make the probability of recidivism low ( individual
deterrence)
Incarceration has achieved both general deterrence and individual deterrence. General
deterrence can best be understood using the general deterrence theory. Based on this theory,
the public will avoid engaging or committing crimes for people of the perceived strict
consequences. It can also be defined as the effect of the threat of lawful punishment of the
public at large. General deterrence originates from the perception of the public that laws are
enforced and that there is a high risk of detection as well as punishment through incarceration
once the laws are violated (Pickett & Roche, 2016). On the other hand, specific deterrence is
the type of deterrence that results following actual experiences of detection, trial and
imprisonment. It is the impact of real legal punishment on the individuals who have been
apprehended. Most of the people who have been incarcerated narrate to their friends and
families about the unpleasant lives that they experienced while serving their jail term. In most
cases, they show unmatched determination to avoid engaging in unlawful activities that may
cause them to be imprisoned again. On the same note, people read the unpleasant live in
various jails in different parts of the globe. They find the place not only disgusting but also
unhealthy to live from the stories they read from different sources. As a result, they take
actions that would ensure that they do not get incarcerated. In so doing, the government
achieves one of the functions of incarceration, which is to deter the general public from
engaging in criminal activities. On the same note, most of the people who serve their jail
term show unmatched determination to avoid engaging in activities that may lead to them
being re-arrested and re-incarcerated (Bates & Anderson, 2019). This is evident as several
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studies have shown that most of the people who have ever been arrested and imprisoned are
less likely to be imprisoned again after being released from jail. For example, according to
Bates, L., & Anderson (2019), more than 56 percent of the people who have ever been
arrested and imprisoned do not get rearrested and sentenced whether for the same crime or a
different crime. Consequently, this reduces the number of people who willingly commit
crimes and end up being arrested and incarcerated. Thus, incarceration helps to achieve
individual deterrence.
ii. Incarceration imparts prisoners with skills that make them resourceful citizens
once they complete their imprisonment.
Studies have shown that most of the people engaging in criminal activities and
consequently get incarcerated are persons with low education levels and those who lack
relevant skills (Roth et al., 2017). This is very common among criminals who engage in
thuggery and burglary. Most of these people find crime as the only available way to earn a
living since they lack the requisite skills that can lead to their employment. These people can
be deterred from engaging in criminal activities by ensuring that they have the necessary
skills that can help them to get employment. For this reason, most prisons across the United
States provide prison education to the inmates. The education includes courses such as basic
literacy programs, secondary school equivalent programs, tertiary education programs and
vocational education programs. In addition, some inmates are provided with crafts programs
that help them to develop the skills needed in developing diverse pieces of art, such as
paintings, songs, drawings among others (Thornton et al., 2018). The aim of prison education
is to make the inmates more employable through enhancing their skill set and education level.
Several studies have shown that prison education is an effective approach to reducing
recidivism rates. This helps to save the expense of future prison sentences. For example, in
the U.S, each dollar the government spends on prison education saves 4 to 5 dollars. This
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amount is saved because most of the people who receive prison education are unlikely to be
rearrested and re-incarcerated. Thus, the government saves money that could otherwise have
been used in managing the inmate while in prison.
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References
Bates, L., & Anderson, L. (2019). Young Drivers, Deterrence Theory, and Punishment
Avoidance: A Qualitative Exploration.FPolicing: A Journal of Policy and Practice.
Kubrin, C., & Seron, C. (2016). The prospects and perils of ending mass incarceration in the
United States.
Pickett, J. T., & Roche, S. P. (2016). Arrested development: Misguided directions in
deterrence theory and policy.FCriminology & Public Policy,F15(3), 727-751.
Pratt, T. C. (2018).FAddicted to incarceration: Corrections policy and the politics of
misinformation in the United States. Sage Publications.
Roth, B. B., Westrheim, K., Jones, L., & Manger, T. (2017). Academic self-efficacy,
educational motives and aspects of the Prison sentence as Predictors for Participation
in Prison education.FJournal of Correctional Education (1974-),F68(3), 19-40.
Rothschild, C. (2019). The Incarcerated State (s) of America: The Causes, Consequences, and
Solutions to Mass Incarceration in the United States.FThe Rice Examiner,F2(1), 103-
129.
Thornton, K., Sedillo, M. L., Kalishman, S., Page, K., & Arora, S. (2018). The New Mexico
Peer Education Project: Filling a Critical Gap in HCV Prison Education.FJournal of
health care for the poor and underserved,F29(4), 1544-1557.
Weiss Riley, R., Kang-Brown, J., Mulligan, C., Valsalam, V., Chakraborty, S., &
Henrichson, C. (2018). Exploring the Urban-Rural Incarceration Divide: Drivers of
Local Jail Incarceration Rates in the United States.FJournal of Technology in Human
Services,F36(1), 76-88.
