Incarceration And Crime

The relationship between incarceration and crime has been examined for a long time. Some researchers have posited that incarceration reduced crime. Others have argued that incarceration did not reduce crime; even, a few of researchers insisted that it increased crime. Also, some scholars have contended that incarceration brought about unintended or collateral consequences. By delving into numerous studies focusing on the relationship between incarceration and crime, this literature review will illuminate important facts surrounding the incarceration and crime; and provide a better understanding of the incarceration impact on crime as well as the society.
Some scholars found that incarceration somehow succeeded in reducing crime. Reiss and
Clear (1996, 1997) discussed unintended consequences of the incarceration in the theoretical framework. Those possible unintended outcomes includes “replacement of criminal offenders, recruitment of younger offenders, depreciation of the value of punishment, familial deficits, movement of economic value from urban to nonurban areas, creation of a corrections industrial complex, reduction in funding for schools and other public services, increased social inequality, growth in future generation debt, and cultural tolerance of official cruelty” (Clear, 1996,
Petersilia (2003) reported that the lack of needed services increased the likelihood of reoffending among ex-prisoners. Ex-prisoners had very limited access to services that help them to be successfully integrated into the society as they have no access to public assistance, such as welfare benefits and public housing, and to obtain a driver license which limits their job market (Petersilia, 2003; Travis, 2002). Similarly, other researchers found the amount of time being incarcerated in the prison was associated with being difficult for ex-prisoners to make a successful transition to the society (Carceral, 2004; Irwin, 2005). This finding infers that the lengthier time served in prison is, the more likely ex-prisoners are to recidivate after release experiencing difficulty to make a transition to lives outside the prison. Moreover, English prison reformer John Howard and other scholars argued that the prison is plausibly considered as a place, where prisoners begin a new criminal career or boost their criminal careers by learning from each other (see Tonry, 2010; Vieraitis et al., 2007).
Corresponding to these negative impact of the incarceration on disadvantaged communities with higher incarceration rates and limited access to ex-prisoners, incarceration has been blamed for exacerbating