Prison Conditions, Capital Punishment, and Deterrence

Previous research has attempted to identify a deterrent effect of capital punishment. We argue that the quality of life in prison is likely to have a greater impact on criminal behavior than the death penalty. Using state-level panel data covering the period 1950--90, we demonstrate that the death rate among prisoners (the best available proxy for prison conditions) is negatively correlated with crime rates, consistent with deterrence. This finding is shown to be quite robust. In contrast, there is little systematic evidence that the execution rate influences crime rates in this time period. Copyright 2003, Oxford University Press.

[1]  David P. Phillips,et al.  A Comment on "The Deterrent Effect of Capital Punishment" By Phillips , 1982, American Journal of Sociology.

[2]  C. Ruhm,et al.  Are Recessions Good for Your Health? , 1996 .

[3]  J. P. Shalloo.  Crime in the United States , 1974 .

[4]  D. Phillips,et al.  The Deterrent Effect of Capital Punishment: New Evidence on an Old Controversy , 1980, American Journal of Sociology.

[5]  Steven D. Levitt,et al.  The Effect of Prison Population Size on Crime Rates: Evidence from Prison Overcrowding Litigation , 1995 .

[6]  K. Maguire,et al.  Sourcebook of criminal justice statistics, 1979 , 1981 .

[7]  Edward E. Leamer,et al.  Let's Take the Con Out of Econometrics , 1983 .

[8]  Derral Cheatwood,et al.  Capital Punishment and the Deterrence of Violent Crime in Comparable Counties , 1993 .

[9]  Thomas B. Marvell,et al.  Prison population growth and crime reduction , 1994 .

[10]  Tom Murton.  The dilemma of prison reform , 1976 .

[11]  Donna L. Hoyert,et al.  Vital Statistics of the United States , 1940, Nature.

[12]  R. O’Brien,et al.  Crime and Victimization Data , 1985 .

[13]  A. Piehl,et al.  Youth violence in Boston: Gun markets, serious youth offenders, and a use-reduction strategy , 1996 .

[14]  U. C. Bureau.  Statistical Abstract of the United States , 2004 .

[15]  Kenneth L. Avio,et al.  Capital Punishment in Canada: A Time-Series Analysis of the Deterrent Hypothesis , 1979 .

[16]  D. Commerce.  Statistical abstract of the United States , 1978 .

[17]  Jeffrey T. Grogger,et al.  The Deterrent Effect of Capital Punishment: An Analysis of Daily Homicide Counts , 1990 .

[18]  Peter Passell,et al.  The Deterrent Effect of Capital Punishment: Another View , 1977 .

[19]  Dale O. Cloninger.  Deterrence and the death penalty: A cross sectional analysis , 1977 .

[20]  A. Blumstein,et al.  Deterrence and incapacitation : estimating the effects of criminal sanctions on crime rates , 1980 .

[21]  Ian Dunbar.  PRISONS IN CRISIS , 1995 .

[22]  William C. Bailey,et al.  CAPITAL PUNISHMENT AND LETHAL ASSAULTS AGAINST POLICE , 1982 .

[23]  Samuel Cameron,et al.  A review of the econometric evidence on the effects of capital punishment , 1994 .

[24]  S. K. Layson,et al.  Homicide and Deterrence: A Reexamination of the United States Time-Series Evidence* , 1985 .

[25]  R. Posner,et al.  Economic Analysis of Law , 1974 .

[26]  Eileen Appelbaum,et al.  The Labor Market , 1979 .

[27]  C. Ruhm.  Are Recessions Good For Your Health , 2000 .

[28]  Zhiqiang Liu,et al.  Sensitivity Analyses of the Deterrence Hypothesis: Let's Keep the Econ in Econometrics , 1998 .

[29]  Don D. Lescohier,et al.  The Labor Market , 1919 .

[30]  Isaac Ehrlich,et al.  The Deterrent Effect of Capital Punishment: A Question of Life and Death , 1973 .