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Full-Text Articles in Law
Allocating Resources Among Prisons And Social Programs In The Battle Against Crime, Peter Siegelman, John J. Donohue Iii
Allocating Resources Among Prisons And Social Programs In The Battle Against Crime, Peter Siegelman, John J. Donohue Iii
Faculty Articles and Papers
This article evaluates the cost and crime-reducing potential of prisons and social spending, setting forth the conditions under which a shift in resources from an expanding prison population into social spending would lead to a reduction in total crime. Preschool enrichment programs coupled with family intervention have generated impressive results in reducing crime in a number of different studies. Targeting of resources toward those children most at risk of criminal behavior is necessary to generate cost-effective crime reduction, but this may be difficult to achieve because of political or constitutional constraints. Given precise targeting, and if a broadly implemented preschool …