Do Cellmates Matter?

• In Event: Social Support and Relationships Behind Bars

Abstract

Since Bentham suggested that prisons could be schools of crime, it has been argued that social interactions between prisoners encourage reoffending and thereby subvert the deterrent intent of imprisonment. These social interaction effects may, therefore, help to explain why incapacitation appears to fail to deter reoffending. Although qualitative studies support this explanation, scant empirical evidence has been presented to quantitatively implicate social interaction effects in the production of post-release criminal behavior. Using data from the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections and the Pennsylvania State Police, this study examines whether social interactions between cellmates are causally linked to reoffending outcomes. The results suggest that it may be possible to strategically (and at little or no cost) allocate inmates to cells to reduce recidivism.

Authors

• Heather M. Harris, University of California, Berkeley

• Kiminori Nakamura, University of Maryland

• Kristofer Bret Bucklen, Pennsylvania Department of Corrections