Prisonization Revisited: Explaining the Criminogenic Effects of Incarceration

• In Event: The Pains of Imprisonment, Prisonization, and the Prison Subculture

Abstract

Over the last 40 years, America has greatly increased its use of incarceration as a form of punishment. Research conducted during this time, although tentative, has begun to show that any crime-reducing benefits incarceration provides are being outweighed by criminogenic consequences. Importantly, in order to inform policy decisions in the sentencing and correctional fields, researchers must identify the counteracting causal processes at work. Using data from the Pathways to Desistance study, I first determine the relationship between incarceration and future offending. I then seek to determine which factors are most important in explaining this relationship.

Author

• Tom Scott, University of Maryland, College Park