Behavioral Economics Policy Impact and Future Directions (2023) / Chapter Skim
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10 Criminal Justice System
10 Criminal Justice System
Pages 167-178
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From page 167... ...
For example, the World Prison Brief (n.d.) estimated that 1,675,400 people were incarcerated in the United States in 2020.1 The trend of incarceration was upward for decades: the number of people incarcerated in state and federal prisons grew from 200,000 in 1973 to 1.5 million in 2009 (National Research Council, 2014)
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From page 168... ...
Many of the people in the system repeat the process in what is essentially a revolving door: criminal behavior eventually resulting in incarceration, which is followed by further criminal behavior, which starts the process anew. Every step in this process -- including those that support the revolving door, particularly the difficulty that individuals released from prison face in establishing themselves in the labor market and civil society -- involves a complex set of actors, social and legal processes and norms, policing practices, and sentencing guidelines.
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From page 169... ...
distinguishes between potential offenders who are "incorrigible," on whom sanctions for criminal behavior have no impact, and those who are "deterrable" and might be deterred by sanctions; he regards the differences between the two as inherently behavioral. This body of work points to the behavioral influences identified in Chapter 3 as among the key building blocks of behavioral economics: limited attention, cognitive barriers, reference dependence, and inaccurate beliefs.
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From page 170... ...
. APPLICATION OF BEHAVIORAL IDEAS Despite the widespread recognition of these behavioral issues in the criminal justice system and their importance to policies designed to prevent crime, relatively little research in this field has used the specific lens of behavioral economics (Loughran, 2019, p.
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From page 171... ...
. This seemingly modest behavioral intervention had a major impact and at a relatively low cost: total arrests were reduced by 28–35 percent, and violent crime arrests were reduced by 45–50 percent.4 In the area of policing, it is standard practice for officers to make their own judgments in each situation about whether to be aggressive in 4We note that researchers in criminology have long debated the role of "human agency" in individual decisions to engage in crime, where that term refers to portraying individuals contemplating crime as purposeful and reflecting deliberate choice rather than just reflecting outside social influences (Paternoster & Bushway, 2009; see also Paternoster et al., 2015; Paternoster, 2017)
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From page 172... ...
One intervention involved providing neighborhood residents with mundane information about officers' favorite food, their hobbies, or why they became an officer; another intervention involved officers handing out "outreach" cards to residents. The intervention reduced crime rates in the first three months after the intervention.
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From page 173... ...
Several studies have also examined behavioral effects on plea bargaining. The standard model of plea bargaining is that a defendant bases a decision about whether to accept a plea bargain on the probability of conviction if the case goes to trial, the expected length of the sentence if convicted, and the characteristics of the plea bargain itself.6 Yet one study showed that bargaining outcomes are also affected by attorney competence, compensation, and workloads; resources; and sentencing and bail rules, all of which are consistent with the traditional economic model.
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From page 174... ...
. FINDINGS Behavioral factors that are not generally considered in traditional economic models have an influence at all points in the criminal justice system: they influence the determinants of criminal behavior, policing practices, court proceedings, judicial decision making, and the effects of incarceration.
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From page 175... ...
. Plea bargaining outside the shadow of trial.
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From page 176... ...
. Using behavioral economics to advance deterrence research and improve crime policy: Some illustrative experiments.
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From page 177... ...
Princeton University Library. http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/dsp013x816q83m World Prison Brief.
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