Economics 449
The Irrational 18-Year-old Criminal
EVIDENCE THAT PRISON DOESN’T DETER CRIME
By Joel Waldfogel
Executive Summary In this article Joel Waldfogel provided insight on evidence that prison does not deter crime. He looked at two major aspects in the prison and crime relation which are policing and imprisonment. He explains that prospect of getting caught and also of spending time in prison are meant to discourage rational potential offenders from criminal activities and that prison was also meant to prevents various crime by incapacitating harmful people. But Joel sighted studies from Columbia and Michigan University that provided different school of though. According to this study, because the deterrent